Thanksgiving ‘09

This is long so feel free to skip through to the pictures!

On a whim, Jared decided to see if he could get the Friday after Thanksgiving off so that we could go to Utah for Thanksgiving and spend it with family.

It was a great vacation though way too short!  I wanted to see everyone and do everything but as we all know time goes by much to quickly.

We had dinner at my parents around 1:30 pm.  We hadn’t told my Grandma on purpose of surprising her and I think it worked.  It’s been hard on her and us after living in the same neighborhood for 6 years to suddenly live about 12 hours of driving time away (people will tell you it’s 10 but not when your 8 months pregnant with a 3-year-old who’s potty trained).  It was great to see my family though we missed my sister Julie and her family since her daughter got the croup.  :(.

     Christian and Sandy enjoy the out of doors with beautiful crunchy leaves!Christian and Autumn running in the backyard together.  Beatrix looking darling and Enoch giving his biggest grin!  Sandy’s darling personality laughing at the camera!Christian rough housing with Grandpa Doug!

After pie, we drove to Saratoga Springs to Jared’s sister’s house where they were having Thanksgiving.  We’d called ahead to tell her we were coming and Jared’s mom knew but the rest of the family was surprised and freaked out.  Christian was so happy to see his cousin Trystan that he was very difficult to get into the car afterwards.  All of Jared’s siblings were there except for his sister Melanie, even his sister April from Connecticut was there (she had flown in that morning to surprise the family as well).  It was really fun to see all of them together.

Christian and Trystan eating some last minute pie together.

The next day we visited Jared’s parents who had their Christmas village up which was really fun for Christian to see.  They also read him some books in German and then translated them into English.  I was amazed at how patient he was listening to German because I don’t think I would have been that attentive as a 3-year-old (or even as a 5-year-old for that matter).

 

Peeking over the piano at the village…       Listening to German books with Grandpa Gerald and Grandma Linda.

Then we visited with my sister April (but not enough) and then brought Christian over to my aunt Janean’s to play with her kids.  Christian really loved playing with his cousins and came home with a heart from his cousin Colin that says “You are Loved” Love Colin.  Very sweet.

We then stopped by my Grandma’s house and it was a lot like old times.  Christian played with her famous blocks and after one building decided that he would rather count the blocks than build with them (there are 107).  This boy is so interesting to me.  I always wonder why he doesn’t want to color, he’d rather write letters, and then he would rather count items rather than ‘play’ with them.  I guess I’m a little more right-brained than he is and so I don’t ‘get it’.  

  

Grandma Hugging Christian

Playing with blocks….

We went back to my parents and had a lovely visit with my dear Dayna who lives in Las Vegas now so it was a treat to get to see her.

Dayna and Christian (if we were Catholic she’d be his godmother).   Me with Dayna feeling for kicks.

 

On Saturday morning we met up with Jared’s sister Melanie, thus we saw every one of Jared’s siblings over the Thanksgiving Holiday.  This really made Jared happy so I’m glad we went.

Jared and Melanie in their matching blue with their matching blue eyes!

After a lovely visit I went with my mom and my SIL Megan to the Downeast Outlet Store in Salt Lake (which I never knew existed before).  It was awesome because they had shirts that were on sale for 2 for $5 or 1 for $3.  I got a couple of T-shirts and a couple of camisoles that have been great!

Then us girls went on a hunt for something that I wanted to get Christian for Christmas.  It was really fun and it was the first time since our move that I’ve spent longer than an hour away from Christian.  I love my boy, but sometimes I just need some time alone!  Thanks Megan and Mom for the fun girl time!

We finished the day by taking Christian to play with my friend Charisse’s little girls and see their darling new baby named Jared.  It was great to see Charisse and Christian still keeps talking about his “one cousin” with the two sisters.

Of course, a visit with my mom is never complete until we go to the fabric store together so I finished the day with my mom at Joann’s buying some random items that I’ve been needing.  I never knew how blessed I was to have a couple of fabric stores so close.  Now the closest one is 10 miles away and not worth a quick trip with a 3-year-old for a package of needles or whatever I’m getting low on.

We drove home Sunday morning and got home at about 7:45 pm.  It wasn’t a bad drive home but my legs were starting to feel “twitchy” in flagstaff so we got out for a longer dinner than (Jared) had originally planned on.  He was disappointed we weren’t home by 7.  I was just glad to get out of the car for a while.  It was nice to ride home as a family.

I’m so glad that I was able to come and see most of my family and a couple of friends as well.  Thanks to those of you who we crashed your celebrations!  People are the true blessings in my life.  Though it is nice to be home, I miss everyone in Salt Lake and I’m a little sad that I probably won’t be out there until March…

We’ve had a pretty good month together.  Each night before family prayers we each put ten pieces of pop corn in a jar and with each piece said ten things we were thankful for.  Then the day before we left, we popped the popcorn and made “Indian Popcorn” which is a recipe my mom gave me in her cookbook when I got married.  It is mostly molasses that flavors the stuff and tastes a lot like crackerjacks.  It’s also addictive.  We talked about how the Native Americans saved the Pilgrim's lives by being good friends and teachers to them.   It was really a fun thing to do I think we’ll try to remember to do the same tradition every year.  One benefit of our counting our blessings it Christian seemed a lot more content the month of November with not so many “I want” sentences which was nice.  It also was touching every night to hear Christian’s first thankful item to be “my beautiful baby sister”.

I know that Thanksgiving was over a week away but there are so many things I am thankful for.  I have to mention a few of them.

1. My husband

2. My darling little boy

3. This baby I have yet to meet

4. The gospel of Jesus Christ

5. A living prophet

6. An apartment that has enough room and is equipped with electricity, modern plumbing, heating, and A/C!

7. Food to eat

8. Employment for my husband along with good insurance so we can afford to have a baby.

9.  Incredible friends and extended family who keep talking and listening to me and making me feel important

10. Scriptures to keep me grounded

 

I am so blessed in my life.  There are some things that are not the way I would have planned but there are so many things right I feel so grateful for.  Heavenly Father really has given me so much.  So despite all my whining I really am so blessed in my life and the opportunities that I’ve been able to have.