Thanksgiving in BRANSON!

For Thanksgiving this year, we met most of my extended Cullimore family  in Branson, MO for the celebration of the decade! When Gummy and Gumpy plan a trip, you do NOT want to miss out. They were extremely generous and used airline miles to get much of the family there, plus booked the hotel, got show tickets and Thanksgiving dinner for everyone! Every detail was exactly right, with the perfect amount of planned togetherness and free time. Every night there was even a sweet, thoughtful gift for us and the kids waiting on our bed, plus lots of other fun goodies, and events. My kids think Branson is positively magical, and so do I! We made some wonderful memories there and had moments together we will never forget. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This year I was especially grateful for a close, supportive extended family!

How excited were we to see everyone when we got off the first leg of our flight? When you live away, every event you are together for has even more meaning.

Cousins and best buddies

Pierce, here at 8 weeks, was not quite sure what he was in for. He was a great traveler though, and I'm very grateful for that! We were so excited to show him off!

These two also did a ton to make this super fun trip happen, by filling in all the gaps and making it possible. Thank you!! You guys are the cutest grandparents around.

When we arrived at the hotel late Tuesday night, we were greeted by Gummy and Gumpy and the others who made it there before us. We could already feel the excitement of the week. In our rooms we had towels shaped like animals, little gift and an itinerary. We were ready to roll!

We basically took over the Music Capital Inn with our crew of 60. It was a great place to stay and we enjoyed all being close enough to chat in the halls at night and meet for breakfast in the morning.

Who knew my mom was so good at jazz hands?

There is something about hotel breakfasts that kids can't get enough of. We loved seeing all of our family gathered there in the mornings. Such a treat!

On the first morning we were greeted with hot, fresh cinnamon rolls that my grandparents had picked up from McFarland's....I told you they think of everything. They were delicious!

The IMAX
This is the Ozark Discovery IMAX Theater. Years and years ago, my grandpa "Gumpy" helped build and create this theater, mall and restaurants in Branson. It's amazing to go there and realize it's there because of him. We had a few Thanksgivings in Branson growing up and they are some of my fondest memories. The summer after I turned 18 and the summer after I turned 19 I spent 4 months in Branson working for him at the theater and restaurant. We shared so many great moments and I'm so grateful that I was able to spend that time with them and my cousin, Courtney. We worked so hard and so many hours, after 2 summers I had enough to buy my own car, and more memories with my grandparents than most people get all their lives, so Branson is extra special for me and I was so excited to be able to bring Mike and the boys there!

The Cullimore card and Debit Cards
For the family reunion Gumpy and Gummy had special Cullimore cards printed that gave us discounts at a bunch of restaurants and shops. In addition to that, my parents put $30 on a debit card for each of the kids to use on anything they wanted. It was kind and brilliant, because it eliminated all the asking! They loved it and felt so adult whipping out their own card.

Angry birds were a big hit.

Movies!
We saw every great IMAX movie that was being played, all for free! We especially loved the one my Grandpa helped produce for the theater...Ozark Legacy and Legend. We also loved The Mystery of the Great Lakes because it was right in our backyard, and the free soda was a big bonus since soda is something that pretty much never happens at our house!

I was so happy to see cute little Ellie. I love to do her hair!

Jace was very happy to have a cousin his age there. We love having Grace around.

MacFarland's
My grandpa also started a restaurant that Courtney and I worked in all summer. It was fun to go back and eat there again. They still have our tin type photo hanging on the wall. It was so funny to see it! This is where Jace got the idea for their picture at the Hands On Museum.

Does this table look a little high? It's a rising table in the restaurant. The kids thought it was so funny when they finally realized how high their food was! Fun little trick.

The Mall
Along with the theater and restaurant there is a little mall with a food court where we spent a ton of time. Gumpy worked it out so everyone could get "free" self serve yogurt (though he paid for it all), and "free" drinks. That was such a highlight for everyone. Plus it was a nice place to hang out together!

Pretty sure our boys spent all their money on cheap magic tricks! 

Proof that skinny Kimmy eats bad for you things, like Cheeseburger pizza...sound  gross? It was actually really good!

Silver Dollar City
We could not have asked for better weather. It was incredibly sunny and warm most days. Silver Dollar City is a big Branson attraction! There are some fun rides and an old fashioned city feel. We spent the entire day there and had a blast. It was fun to see everything all lit up and decorated for Christmas. One of the things we loved about Branson was the way it brings the spirit of Christ to the Christmas season; it really puts you in the mood for the holiday.

Apparently almost 9 year olds aren't into parades :)

The nights were chilly but Pierce was snuggly warm.

Shows!
We LOVED seeing all the shows in Branson. There are really talented performers spreading great messages and the shows are all family friendly and the kids really enjoyed them too. I love that my kids have varied interests and are willing and able to find the fun in just about any experience.

Thanksgiving!
It was a little strange not being home for our actual Thanksgiving (and I missed making my stuffing :), but it was so great to be gathered with so many people we love. We all ate our Thankgiving dinner together and had a wonderful, thoughtful program and time to express our love for each other.

Uncle Kelvyn told a really cool story about my great-great grandfather and Christmas lights. I'm excited to have that story as part of my history. I come from a long line of inspirational leaders who did the right thing to lift the people around them. There is a lot to live up to. The kids were able to place their lights on a chain and we talked about letting our light and the light of Christ shine. It was a perfect reminder for all of us as we remembered to be grateful for our heritage and look forward to the Christmas season where we can show our love for others and for our Savior.

As a very small thank you, Mindi put together a great book and slide show for Gummy and Gumpy about all of our previous Branson memories. It was a ton of work (especially since she has 4 kids including 18 month old twins!) and turned out beautifully. I'm glad they had a small token of our love and gratitude for them, their generosity and their amazing example. I want to be just like them someday...the travel the world (really, China, Africa, Columbia, you name it they have been there) training the church Humanitarian missionaries on how they can best help the residents of these countries. Not bad for 76 year olds!

They also gave us a special book for our ancestry files that we love and are excited to share with our children. I feel so blessed that they have been able to get to know their great grandparents. What a joy!

All the great grandchildren

All the grandchildren and spouses

All the kids and spouses

Swimming! 
Our hotel had a swimming pool and hot tub. A perfect combination to wear everyone out at the end of the day!

This is just gross. I promise we feed him!

Since we weren't going to be together for Christmas, Grandma brought out the matching  jammies early!

Surprise, James is pouting.

The Cullimore 5K
Kelvyn and Laurie's family always participate in a Thanksgiving Day race, so they brought the race with them to Branson. Almost everyone walked, jogged or ran and we were quite the sight in a very good ol' Southern town. People may have never seen a group of people running before. We all had matching shirts and had a great time.

Clay, the marathon runner took first place, but Spencer was our family's fastest!

So proud of Parker and Ezra. The jogged the entire 5K with Katie and Grandpa even when it was hard. Parker has a really talent for patience and the ability to stick with something that doesn't come easily. We love that about him. He was so proud of himself. On the other hand, Jace was so disappointed with himself when he realized all the attention that was paid to those who stuck with the hard thing.  It may have had something to do with his attitude change over Christmas break. We've seen him really start to push himself. We like it!

James didn't run far, but we were surprised to see him as the fastest of the little kids. We are working on making him want to do hard things too, a bit tougher sell since he could care less :)

The Brett Family Singers
I bet most of you didn't know that Mike's family is famous!! His Aunt and Uncle and their kids perform an amazing, live show in Branson. They were incredible and the best one we saw. Honestly, worth the trip just to see them sing, play and entertain. My kids were in awe of them and had a new desire to practice their piano, sing and show us their cool dance moves. We loved being at their show and basking in their talent, class and professionalism. If you get a chance to see them, you should!!

Jace thought Brydon was ultra cool.

Another cool thing about Gumpy...he likes to make everything extra fun. He saw these cool hats and bought them for the boys. We have loved them and wore them many times over Christmas!

Waterslides!
The boys spent a day at the indoor waterpark and had a blast. So glad things like this exist!

It was so sad when our plane was going to Detroit and theirs was headed to Salt Lake. My kids wondered why EVERYONE else got to go to the same place :(. We had such a wonderful time with everyone and it was great to be able to reconnect with aunts, uncles, cousins and especially grandparents. THANK YOU Gummy and Gumpy for making all of this possible. It was beyond wonderful and we now have memories of Branson all together that we will never forget.