Veterans Day 2014

I totally slacked on Memorial Day this year, but I really want the boys to know what regular people sacrifice so that they get the life they have and the freedoms they enjoy.  On Veterans Day I thought it would be nice to make some treats from some local veterans (and current military).  It also went right along with our FHE that week because we're learning about gratitude all month.  Jim and I both have veterans on both sides of our family, so we talked to the boys about family members that have served.  We also explained that people are serving right now!  And very recently our family friend and photographer joined the military family.  Her husband just left for basic training at the beginning of the month, so talking about our friend (Alicia) and her family made it more real and tangible to them.

First, we made a favorite family treat- these turtle-type candies.  They're so easy that the boys basically made them all by themselves and they're DELICIOUS!

All you need is pretzels, rolos, and pecan halves.  We counted our Rolos to figure out how many pretzels and pecans we needed- so I snuck in a little math too.  ;)  After Austin ate a couple Rolos, we counted out how many pretzels we needed and placed them on a cookie sheet.  I'm not a fan of unrolling the silly Rolos, but I'm really too cheap to just buy the roll of rolos, so I buy the bag.  However, the boys LOVED unwrapping the candy and placing them on the pretzels.  Win-win!

Austin placed the very last Rolo on the pretzel

Then we melted the Rolos in the oven for a few minutes, and smooshed them down with a pecan and placed them in the freezer to set.

While they were setting, Jackson wrote a note on the plates thanking them for their service and sacrifice.

Finished plates-

And finally, the boys counted out the treats to make sure each plate had plenty of treats!

After dinner and FHE we delivered the treats to great grandpa (who served in the Navy) and to Alicia's family.  Austin explained to grandma what service men and women do.  Verbatim:

"On mommy's computer there were veterans (I had showed him a picture of service men and women)...  And, and the veterans and army guys FIGHT the bad guys to SAVE THE WORLD!!"  He was so cute and animated, I wish I had recorded it.

So thank you "veterans and army guys" for all of your service and sacrifice so that my family and I can have the freedoms we enjoy.

"Freedom don't come free" -Toby Keith