Our Utah Thanksgiving

I got the suitcases out the morning before we planned to leave.  The kids took it upon themselves to pack theirs for me.  Brady read the packing list I'd printed, so he proceeded to pack his things including his Pull-Ups, shoes, blanket, teddy bear and underwear.  Then Brooke saw what he was doing and put her doll and blanket in as well.  They left it like this by the front door, all ready to go.

We stayed at my mom's new townhouse in Lehi.  She took this picture for us, and excuse me while I brag, but it looks awesome!  She should take up photography as a hobby if not a new profession.

I was lucky to get a shot of this little chica before we headed out the door to Tim and Leesa's house for our Thanksgiving feast.

I have to give a shout-out to Tim and Leesa for hosting Thanksgiving.  My mom's place is too small, and so is Shane and Terra's rental (which they are almost out of!), and Sharon, new-ish sister-in-law, didn't want to host because she was afraid Terra would make fun of her for already having her Christmas decorations up.  Haha, not really, but the thought had crossed her mind.  She's going to have to get used to Terra making fun of her for all sorts of things.  Trust me, I shared a room with the girl for 15 years!

Anyway, back to Tim and Leesa...Tim had undergone surgery on his lung that was full of blood two weeks before.  It took 12 days for him to get released because of various complications.  We were fasting and praying like crazy around here.  Anyway, Leesa followed through with the plan and hosted Thanksgiving despite the fact that Tim had just come home from the hospital the day before.  It was a very nice meal.  I realized it was the first Thanksgiving dinner I'd shared with my mom since 2003 when we lived in Provo. 

Here's baby Josh, crawling around and getting into everything, but mostly just happy to have his parents home from the hospital.

Nick is always so great to entertain our kids with the latest technology.  Does she look a little young for this though?

 I managed to capture a shot of Sharon feeding baby Claire, just a month old.

I had to get a shot of the pie selection: chocolate cream pudding, key lime, pumpkin cream cheese, traditional pumpkin and apple.

And here are Cory and his brother Devan waiting to be served their pie.  They each tried three or four slices.  Devan is at BYU, so we picked him up in Provo and he got to share our vacation with us.

 Nick and Sharon made up for it and hosted two dinners at their house while we visited.  They just moved there in September and their house is so nice!  Notice the tree, already up and decorated.  I got this shot because Brooke was thinking she had to help Josh crawl, pushing his backside.  He wasn't crawling when she last saw him, but he managed to figure it out without her help.  She was still good to retrieve his pacifier though.

 Again with the iPad Touch.  It was a hit with these guys.

I didn't get up early for shopping on Black Friday, but I did manage to get to the new H&M in Fashion Place where I found some great things, mostly for the kids.  The girls made a craft Friday night while the guys played Xbox.  Then we ordered Papa John's pizza.  Saturday morning we got to walk through Terra's and Shane's house that's being built.  It's going to be awesome, and they're hoping to move in before Christmas.  Then Cory, Devan and I went to the Draper Temple while Grandma stayed home with the kids.  Later we watched the BYU basketball team get slaughtered.  Two nights we played Hand 'N Foot at Mom's kitchen table.  I think we've converted Devan to our favorite game.  It was a great trip.  No puking on the way home this year.  It was another boring drive on I-80 through Wyoming, just the way we like it.