Thanksgiving

My heart is full, as well as my belly.  I ate so much food this past weekend!  We had the opportunity to spend the holiday with my family in Chesterfield.  It was oh, so loverly and wonderful (when the kids were behaving well) and full of fun!

We arrived with colds and a packed car Wednesday evening, and spent a while in the pool.  Taylor was a little fish, and Tanner, well, he would have been happier doing something besides swimming.  It was a 'splash'!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to enjoy the company of my brother and his lovely wife, as they spent the time with her family in sunny California, and rightly so.  We missed them, but we're looking forward to Christmas!  My aunt Camille (my mom's sister) and her husband Gene and family came from Boise.  We invited the kid that lives downstairs, Alex, to come and enjoy the weekend, since all of his family is in VA.  Nice kid.

Much to my mother's dismay, my dad had planned to brand 30 or so head of cattle before feasting on Thursday...it turned out to be fabulous fun for my brothers and Ryan. 

Dinner was delicious, as always, and I won't bore you with the details, but Taylor slept through the whole thing.  I am pretty sure he enjoyed his leftover pizza from the night before, and we enjoyed the meal without his whininess.

Dinner was followed with drug-out goodbyes to my aunt and her family, as we just couldn't let them go!  We also convinced Alex he had nothing to go home to and he stayed to watch a movie and play Apples to Apples, which was a riot.

Friday morning, all they guys put snow tires on the vehicles, pretended to be chimney sweeps (okay, so they watched my dad climb ontop of the house and clean the chimney), and cut and chopped wood for the fireplace.  I'm sure they were busy doing many other things as well, but I must say my sisters and I had the most grueling task of all.....

I talked my sisters into sewing block after block after block of my boys' Christmas Presents, and I owe them big time!!  We got TWO twin sized, matching quilts ALMOST done.  I just have to sew on one more boarder and then quilt them.  I joked on facebook about not finishing them until 4 o'clock Christmas Morning....well, that's the road I'm headed down.

We also continued in our tradition to find Charlie Brown's tree, and I think Ryan and I finally succeeded.  Upon getting the 'winner' out of the truck, my dad asked which side was the flat side....ha, ha, daddy!  Note:  I always look for a tree with one flat side to put against the wall, since we're a tad limited on square footage in our apartment.  Well, this year I did doubly well, because there are TWO flat sides.  The front and the back.  *sigh*   I must say, though, I think my dad got me beat by snagging a 16 footer, that would be another foot taller if it were straight...It's quite comical when you see their tree.  No amount of wire will straighten it.  My mom kept saying she'd fix it by covering it with ornaments...and she's right.  The ornaments will either make or break the tree.  But it has character, and the lights are already on it, so it'll be beautiful.  My mom's trees always are. 

My parents' ward does a Thanksgiving Dance each year, and so we went, not wanting to go, but ending up having a good time.  The boys really enjoyed dancing, and I predict that Tanner is going to be a ladie's man.  He would approach every young and beautiful girl under the age of 5, then chicken out about six inches away from them, turn, shug his shoulders and hands and run back.  After a few rejections (and laughs from the rest of us), he got up the guts (so I told him I'd give him a quarter) to ask a cute 6 year old...when she said, "yes", he was so excited, he left her stranded on the stage to come tell us about it.  Moments later the two of them were jumping from the stage stairs...Oh, Boy.  I think I'm in for it. 

Saturday was nice and relaxing, and the boys were finally starting to sleep through the night.  Sleepless nights make for grumpy kids AND parents.  Thank heavens for loving grandparents and aunts and uncles.  If not for them, we may not have all made it home in one piece.

My mom and dad and I and Ryan were invited to Logan to watch a dear friend perform in "The Nutcracker".  It was simply fabulous, and a lot of fun.  I think Ryan and I needed a break from the boys....And a huge thank you to my sister Katelyn for watching the boys for us.

Sunday we went to the Bancroft Ward to listen to my brother, Reed, talk in their Sacrament Meeting.  He did a fantastic job.  The boys were the best behaved that they've ever been...the trick?  STICKERS.  After nice and uplifting meetings, we had a scrumptious ham dinner, and sent Reed and Stephanie back to Provo.  I loaded our car with goodies and other stuff (don't ask questions...it's Christmas!) and we headed out after dark.

I cannot forget to mention how awesome we looked, with a tree tied to the roof of the car.  It was awesomely hilarious!

Upon returning home at 9:30 Sunday evening, we had the kids in bed, the car unloaded and EVERY. THING. put away by 10:30 and I'm pretty sure I was asleep before 11.

It truly was a wonderful weekend get away.  My Heavenly Father has blessed me beyond measure, and my blessings are overflowing.  My family is dear to my heart, and I'm so thankful that I had this time to spend with them.

We hope you each had a wonderful weekend, as well!

***Pictures to come***