Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It was a very nice weekend and uneventful drive up, which the the best kind to have. I have decided I like to stop for lunch more than 1/2 way, so we didn't stop until Beaver on the way up. We had left comfortably after breakfast and a bit of last minute packing and arrived one gas/lunch stop and 3 movies later. The worst part of not having Matt with us on the drive was that I had no one to talk to and as a result was forced into snacking way too much.

We arrived in Pleasant Grove and before the car could even be unloaded, my 3 kids had disappeared with their cousins. Kyle is quite grown up and was marvelously helpful, unloading, loading, setting up beds and offering to babysit while Troy and Beccy and I attempted an early morning swim at BYU, but that is an entirely different story, best left to Troy to tell.

We didn't go up to meet up with my family until after the neighborhood football game Thursday morning. This is what Isaac had most been looking forward to. He has been talking football with his cousins for so long and now he had a chance to play after having some real experience himself. But the football game was tragically unsatisfying to all the boys after playing tackle all season. He cleaned up and we went up to Salt Lake.

This was the first time all my siblings have been together since Jess was a baby--Christmas 2005 in Germany. We hung out, cooked, visited, ate, cleaned and played at Grandma Webb's house/Ben's apartment. Jessica was very excited to see Lucy (we really can't call her baby Lucy anymore, and it will be a hard habit to break) the kids disappeared once more--exploring grandma's big house with cousins, just as I remember doing long ago. They were also excited to try out boots in the slightly crusty snow in the backyard. The one missing thing was no family picture to document it. I even had brought bright sweatshirts for my kids as suggested. But I don't feel too bad personally, because it would have been a little sad for me to do without Matt there.

We all met up except for dad, Ben and Justin (brother-in-law) the next morning at a place called Jump On It. It was a wild success. A couple of bouncy castles and dozens of trampolines with a couple of well placed platforms to jump off/onto made it a simple bouncy paradise. I brought along two Martin cousins (it was fun to watch the two Kates--so close in age--play together). There were no serious accidents, though several people had some major aches the next day. Isaac claims his ribs still hurt a week later. Makenna had a sore back and Jess had a pulled groin from accidentally doing the splits. My neck was extremely stiff for two days after, but fine now. I think Brian was competing against everyone to be the most sore for all the tricks he was trying. Kim was much braver than me and even was doing flips. I was just amazed at how high you could jump. It didn't seem high until you realized you could easily step onto the platform about 3 feet tall. I'll stick in some pictures here.

Brian's swan dive into a forward roll. Not the highest, but the most photographically satisfying.

I took this picture of Kim. It was so hard to catch the person in the frame not completely blurred and someone threw this ball at JUST the right time.

The gap toothed girls at the end. Makenna, Katie Martin, Jessica (above) Kate Allen (below)

Hyrum, Kate, Lucy, Jessica, Makenna and Katie. They filled the whole slide.

Jess was the master of this game, but I never got a good picture.
Go Makenna! She hurt her back a bit later and toned it down a bit.

Isaac jumping off the side tramp. It doesn't look impressive, but it's really full action--he's about to get sprung backwards.

Makenna took this picture of me. After failing to get the shot so many times myself, I was so impressed. Thanks, my dear!

After everyone got sweaty and hungry, we split up for lunch (and naps for some of Emily's crew). We went with Troy's family to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. Disney's new Christmas Carol had been planned, but got voted down by their big boys. I'm glad. Mr. Fox was quite artsy, but I loved it. And I hadn't really been looking forward to Jim Carey in that classic. After the show we drove to the Gateway for dinner and parking. I bundled the kids up in snowpants, coats, hats, scarves and gloves over their normal clothes before to caught the trolley for Temple Square to see the lights. When we went last year, they didn't last 5 minutes without wimpering with cold. That was post Christmas and considerably colder, but I was better prepared this year anyway. Not one complaint of cold I got. They asked instead if they could take things off when we popped into buildings like the conference center or one of the visitor's centers. Many of my family met us there again. The lights were beautiful and the kids were awed. Isaac left a little before us with the Martin cousins. The girls stayed to hear and see the whole nativity story lit up between the Tabernacle and north visitor's center. Riding the train back to the parking lots with the Allens was an added bonus at the end. Jessica was a little put out that we got back too late for her to take baths with Katie. She loves taking LOUD baths together (Katie, Makenna and Jess) in Beccy's big tub.

By the pink lights, bundled up.

After breakfast, we packed up the car again and said goodbye in Pleasant Grove. We stopped briefly in Provo at Emily's before heading home. The cousins wanted to show/see the chickens. Emily's three oldest kids have their own chickens. Lucy's lays an egg each day and is the nicest chicken. She lets all the kids hold her and doesn't run away. They all had great fun chasing the other two back into their pen. And as a going away gift, Emily gave us two quarts of delicious homemade apple sauce. It's already long gone. Jess was a little wary at first. She's just used to the single serving cups. But she quickly became a big fan.

Makenna holding Lucy's Little Red.

We had more more surprise on the drive home. I wanted to go more than halfway again, so we made it all the way to St. George before stopping for lunch and gas. I went quite off the beaten path trying to find a Hogi Yogi, but no luck. As we were heading back to the freeway to find an alternative, someone started honking at us which was infuriating at first because I was doing nothing wrong and the light was not green, but I looked over and there was Kelly, Andy and their kids. So we pulled over, picked a lunch spot and they kept us company during our late lunch and we all caught up a bit. Unbelievably fortuitous. Good thing Andy is such a car guy. I never would have thought to be looking for anyone. But he recognized the truck. Wow. The kids were cute together. Mine wondered aloud and as started the last leg if we could only bump into Jen's family--then they could see ALL their cousins in the same day.

We got home safe and sound and even were able to unpack and do wash before Matt got home that night from work. Good trip.