I should try to get things in better order but I think I just need to write. We spent Thanksgiving in Utah this year. It was wonderful! Details are already starting to slip from my mind, but I want to recall everything I can, even if it is more of a travel log. We decided to go a little earlier this year, so my mom flew in to drive with me and the kids and Joseph flew in later for the last 4 days of the trip. We picked Mom up from the airport and drove straight to Elko, Nevada to spend the night at our usual Holiday Inn Express. I think we are considered regulars there now. :) The kids did awesome in the car and the weather was perfect for driving.
We got to Spanish Fork around 2:00 and got ready and then went to Scott and Annette's beautiful new house for dinner. It was great for the cousins to play and I loved visiting with my siblings, parents, and nieces and nephews. On Monday we got settled in, did a little shopping, and then went to see Joseph's little sister Celeste perform in the musical "The Music Man." She played the lead part of Miriam the librarian and did a wonderful job. She has an amazing voice. The girls sat quietly through the production and the boys, well, they crawled and wandered through empty seats at the back of the auditorium, but it was funny to see Aaron stop and become captivated and return to his normal wondering, toddler self.
On Tuesday I met with a couple of my friends from high school and visited. Kim, Amie and I had lots of fun catching up and seeing each other's children. I am so sad that I didn't get a picture of Isaac and Kim's little girl, Ella. They were born 1 minute apart! One minute! I can't believe I forgot to pull the camera out, I thought that would be cute to have a picture of the "twins" now and then in 20 years take another picture. Oh well, it's an excuse for us to get together again soon! I had the best friends in high school. Now that I have daughters (sons too) of my own, I hope that they will choose good friends like the ones I had. They are all such good moms and smart women. In terms I always use for my children I would say (in speaking about my friends) They made good choices then, and they are making good choices now.
On Wednesday we did our baking day. I was in charge of the pecan yams. I have never really cared for yams and then a few years ago when we were in Spokane, Joe's aunt Linda's mom made the best yams ever! They tasted like they belonged on the dessert table (maybe that's why I liked them so much). It was fun to spend time in the kitchen with mom and Emily and my girls. I picked up Joseph from the airport that night. I am always so happy to see him. The one thing I hate about going to Utah is that I usually go alone and Joseph comes in later. I really miss having him around and the kids really miss him too! Our life is complete when he is around.
He hardly gets any sleep when he comes because he has so many people he wants to see and he plans so many activities and adventures. I love being with him. I am always so much happier when he makes it to Utah. I love my family and I love his family, but being away from him is hard and it makes me realize that my life would feel so empty without him. He is my best friend.
Okay so if this is not random enough already, here are some pictures to make it even more so. Abby tried on my old point shoes while we were there. We thought it was so cute to see her dancing around in them. She was actually pretty good, even though they were way too big. Well, after we realized that she took the lambs wool out and her feet blistered. Ouch! She was sad because they hurt so bad!
Abby thought making the pie crusts was the best!
Isaac just crawled all around us and inside the warmer as we baked and prepared food.
Many times he stood at the door watching the older kids on the trampoline, it was cold outside, but we did end up letting him play with them, he loved it every second!
While we were baking, Aaron went down to watch a movie and fell asleep on the luv sac. It was very convenient for us. :)
Abby had been dreaming up a Pilgrim costume for weeks. This was her completed outfit that she came up with the day before Thanksgiving and then we realized after that she didn't even wear it. I think she got a little shy when her older cousins came over dressed in their cute regular clothes. When my mom realized, she felt bad, but I told her that I thought half the fun for Abby was creating it in her mind. This is a dress that we bought about 3 years ago for her. She keeps pulling it out of the "clothes-that-are-too-small-bin."
After dinner, the women did the dishes and the men took the kids on a walk down to the Hollow (a children's wilderness/playhouse yards away from my parents home). 
After we ate dinner and visited for a little while, we headed up to Joe's Mom's house to visit with them. It was a wonderful day! The food was amazing and the only thing that was better was visiting with so many family members. More to come!
1 comment:
I'll respond once for all the Thanksgiving things. Looks like you had a great trip, and I'm sorry that I never even got to see you! That's the hard thing about visiting family, isn't it? When you go somewhere that so many loved ones are concentrated, it makes it difficult to spend quality time with everyone. We have the same problem when we go spend a weekend in SLC.
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