At Last . . a Thanksgiving Post!

Hi again, everybody! I've certainly taken my time getting this post written, so my apologies. We had a great Thanksgiving vacation last month. I was able to fly up to Springville with the kids about 1 1/2 weeks before Thanksgiving, and Ryan joined us the day before Thanksgiving. (He drove up in the van [with the dogs], so we were all able to drive home together.) The flight wasn't as bad as I had feared - JetBlue's individual TV's and kid-friendly snacks kept them mostly occupied. Occupied, but not quiet. I was lucky enough to sit next to an older lady with lots of grandkids at home, so she was pretty patient.

Our vacation in Utah was great. The kids and I were able to spend alot of time with my family, including my brothers and sister-in-law. Kevin actually spent the whole Thanksgiving weekend at my mom's, which was awesome, and Kelli and Kyle were really nice to sacrifice all their free time hanging out with me each evening. We stayed up practically all night playing Arkham Horror, which is really fun despite being ridiculously complicated. (Note: Kevin was in attendance, but he was the one taking the picture.)

Here are some pictures out at my mom and Chuck's property near Elberta. Nobody should know where Elberta is, by the way, but it is very pretty. My mom let the whippets run, and Connor walked for a couple of hours without being carried, I was proud of him. He had alot of fun finding the pink ribbons in the trees that marked the property boundary, and used them like a scavenger hunt to lead us back to the car (he thought we might be lost.)

Connor spent what was left of his strength that evening grinding wheat. He has this thing about licking flour off countertops that drives me nuts, but he's convinced that anything whitish in a canister is a treat, so this was like making candy for him.

Thanksgiving itself was great, too, as always. It says something about me that a day dedicated to being thankful for food (among other things) is my favorite day of the year. It's probably not my mom's favorite, since she does the majority of the work . . .

We left for home Monday night, hoping that night driving would be easier with respect to entertaining the kids. I'm not sure what the verdict is on that. It was definitely easier and less stressful dealing with kids (they slept most of the time), but then there's always that falling-asleep-at-the-wheel-and-plummeting-off-a-cliff thing. That can be stressful, too. We're thinking next time we'll try half-and-half, where we leave in the early evening and get home around 3am.

I guess I'll quickly do the Thanksgiving name tag Kelli sent me, although I apologize at how dorky and lame my answers are. They are sincere, though.

E: Elise, Connor, & Ryan. These guys are my reason for getting up in the morning (metaphorically as well as literally - I'd like to sleep in once in awhile.) I love them more than I thought I could love anything.

R: Relatives. Spending time with so many members of my family reminds me how lucky I am. Family is the most important thing we have in this life, and I'm grateful we have such a great one, both in Utah and all over the country.

I: Income. Just happy we have one. Quite a few of our friends have lost their jobs in recent months, and I know how stressful job-hunting can be. I'm also grateful for how hard Ryan works to support us.

N: Nation. Reading the news is depressing enough on the "national" page, but the international stuff can be truly nightmarish. I'm so thankful to live in a country of relative freedom, peace, and plenty.

N: Nazarene. Okay, this is stretching Google's "N words" search to it's breaking point, but I couldn't find anything else beginning with N. (Thanks, Kelli, for the tip, by the way.) By Nazarene I mean the Savior. Not the kind of thing I normally blog about, but I have to mention my thanks for Him and for our Heavenly Father. Everything good in my life is somehow the result of their love and inspiration.