Sharing Thanksgiving with my family in St. George is one of my favorite new traditions. The weather is always perfect and the food and company can't be beat.
This boy was excited to get on the road...
The kids headed right for the pool and hot tub. True love is a grandpa who heats the entire pool to 102 degrees so the kids are comfortable swimming all week! We love him!
Off to Pizza Factory for a little pizza...
Maddy was not overly impressed with the Apple Beer that Mike ordered...
On the other hand, the boys thought it was fantastic...
I got to snuggle with this cute and spitty baby for a little bit...
The first night Beau and Sharee did an awesome devotional about Negative Ned. The kids thought it was hilarious and we have continued to use that phrase ever since.
You know it has been a good night when it ends with wrestling....
We did a little game playing and loved trying our hand at Wackee 6!
At least a few times a day, the double shot was put to use.
We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday after Katie and Spencer could arrive, so instead of feasting, we went hiking at Zion's. It was an incredible experience (except my super painful tendonitis that decided to flare up all week and make it hard to even walk. But I did, because I hate missing out and I'm super tough :). Thanksgiving was a great time to go because it wasn't too crowded!!
At the beginning of the trail to the Emerald Pools...
Right away we saw a deer, which took the hike from lame to super cool really fast for the boys.
One of the coolest looking spots on the hike. Seriously amazing.
Hard to tell in a photo, but the canyons were raining on us. Amazing!!
They always took the opportunity to climb when they could.
We made it to the first Emerald Pool!
More animals!
Family selfie!
Our next spot was the weeping wall. The water was seeping out from the rocks and weeping down. Along our trial you could see several different biomes with a variety of plants, moss, and rocks. Awesome!
Really loved this quote on the bus.
That night there may have been some skinny dipping.
On Thursday night we started prepping for the feast! I know some people get tired of cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner, but I love it! I love cooking our favorite dishes with people I love. When there are lots of helpers in the kitchen, it doesn't even feel like work.
On Friday, there were walks and swimming in the morning.
Then, to the boys absolute displeasure, we made everyone look handsome for dinner. They just did NOT understand the reasoning. They wanted to eat in pajamas or swimsuits and thought either one would be appropriate. With the crew finally dressed and looking good, we took a few photos before the eating commenced. They turned out to be some of my favorites!
Our Thanksgiving was shoeless, sunny, and scrumptious, just the way we like it!
James kept things interesting by discovering a petrified lizard. That added a little sparkle to the photo shoot.
This was as good as we got with the grandparents, but we tried ;).
The kids got to eat outside.
The adults ate inside. This was Mitch's round 1, and there were plenty more helpings!
I am always most Thankful for this sweet family of mine.
After stuffing our bellies, we headed to Tuachan to see the Christmas nativity and participate in the Christmas festivities that night. We LOVE this tradition.
That night for our devotional, we read from Grateful Pig! Then my parents introduced our "Family Theme" for the year which is BE THE GOOD. All year they asked our family to Be The Good in our family, church, neighborhood, and community. We all got matching shirts to remind us and each month they will give us a new challenge. I love how my parents are always trying to teach by word and example and feel the need to challenge us and give back. They are the GREATEST! We are excited to try and BE THE GOOD.
The next morning, we decided to work off dinner and had a little family race. My foot was still horrible so my dad and I took a little walk with Pierce and Renz. Luke was 1st place and Parker was a close 2nd!
After the race, our family tried to do a little good by assembling a "12 days of Christmas" gift for the homeless shelter in St. George. My mom was so creative and they kids were all awesome at doing their best to help put everything together. GREAT idea!
Just "Being the Good!"
Later that day, we played some "Minute to Win It" games. They were hilarious! Thanks Grandma for putting together more fun memories for us!
To cap things off, we headed to the temple that night to look at Christmas lights and enjoy the spirit at the Visitor's Center.
After our temple run, we visited the homeless shelter, dropped off donuts for dessert and our small gift. The kids got the chance to chat with a few of the kids who live there and hopefully came away with a little more gratitude for the beautiful life they get to live.
Another amazing Thanksgiving holiday with the people we love!! Always goes too fast, but we make some awesome memories together.
No comments:
Post a Comment