Friday, November 28, 2014

Thanksgiving in Utah!!!

Parker and I decided about two weeks before Thanksgiving that we really wanted to be with family for this holiday so, with the help of my parents and some American Express miles, we booked our flight!  To get the cheap airfare we could only stay Monday through Friday which was way too short but, better than nothing! 
 
We had to get up at 3am for our flight on Monday but the boys were SO good...
 
We ate breakfast during our layover in Chicago...
Lindsay, Luke, and Emma met us at the airport and we all went to lunch.  The boys were ECSTATIC to see each other!!!  I also have to mention that my dear little blond sister LEFT HER DIAPER BAG WITH HER CELL AND WALLET IN THE PARKING LOT OF CROWNE BURGER IN DOWNTOWN SLC!!!  She realized it about 45 minutes later and called and, thank heaven, some honest person had brought it back inside and gave it to the manager!  Lucky Linds!!!
Emma baby is growing up and she is stinkin adorable!
Playing in the toy chest at Auntie Lindsay's...
Monday we took the boys to Lowe's Extreme Airsports, their favorite place ever, then grabbed some dinner. 

Tuesday morning Parker and my dad took the twins skiing and snowboarding at Brighton.  Sounds like they had a really good time...

 
 
 
 
 
Parker said the boys did well, Josh improved a TON skiing even doing some jumps and going down some of the bigger hills.  Jackson struggled snowboarding but was very determined and kept going. 

 
Mom and I stayed home with Tyce, here's Tyce reading Pete the Cat to grandma...
Then we met up with Linds, Emma, and Luke and went to the Discovery Museum in Salt Lake...
 
 








 
 
 They were exhausted on the way home...
Tuesday night my grandparents came over for dinner and Tyce read to grandma Bybee (that kid is an awesome reader!!)

Wednesday we took them to the Museum of Natural Curiosity in Lehi and it was INCREDIBLE!  It's new and my boys just loved it.  I can't believe I didn't take more pictures but they loved it...
Emma, like all other children in the world, LOVES my dad...
That evening we met up with Morrills.  We went to Hangtime (Michelle and I ditched them and went shopping at this cute Boutique for a while) to jump for a few hours then headed to Chuck A Rama for dinner.

Here's Parker with Shane and Walt...
 Grandma, Grandpa, Zae, and my boys...
 The whole fam except Jackie and her fam...we missed her!!!
 Look at these three boys that adore their grandma!!!
 My beautiful sisters in law...
 And me...
 All the girls...
 And the boys...
It was really cute to see the boys play with Kai, he turned three in August and they really haven't seemed that interested in each other but they ended up having SO much fun at the restaurant and the boys are still talking about how cute he was and how fun he was.  I'm looking forward to next summer when we spend a week or two in Neola and they can all play together.

Thursday was THANKSGIVING!!! We spent it in Salt Lake in the social room at my grandparent's condo which was perfect because we had 21 people. 

Emma girl looked adorable...
 Jackson relaxing...
 My cute fam...
Cousins ( Dana's kids were with stupid David and we really missed them)...
 Sisters!!!
 My #1 thing I'm thankful for...
 Enjoying the beautiful view of downtown SLC...



 Linds and Anna...
 The kids table...
 Alex, Anna, Dana, Linds, and Jason...
 Aunt Denae, Uncle Darin, mom, and Grandpa...
 Parker, Grandma, and James...
 After a truly delicious dinner we all went around saying what we were thankful for...


Josh said "mom, dad, and $$$."  Jackson said, "mom and dad and how awesome they are, especially daddy."  Tyce said, "mom and dad, turkey, and thanksgiving."

After that the kids performed for us using their very creative musical instruments...

I SO enjoyed time with my extended family and it made the whole trip worth it!

Friday morning we headed home.  All our flights went smoothly, boys were angels, and we made it home safe.  Six loads of laundry, mail, bills, and Christmas shopping await me!!!

Here they are in the Denver airport, during our layover we went upstairs where it was empty and the boys ran races.  Needless to say, Jackson won every time.  That kid does NOT like to lose and will push himself to the max to win.