Thanksgiving break

Marcie returned home from her mission to Kennewick Washington!!  We were so excited to see her, but couldn't get home until a few days later, but we got to spend an entire week in Utah to reconnect with her and with Melinda.  We had a very special day at her homecoming and enjoying my extended family for dinner.  

Grandma gave all the kids jammies and they had a party together.  All the grandkids loved playing together and love grandma and Grandpas house with a room full of toys.  It is a perfect place for the little kids to play.

 We went to the Museum of Natural curiosity one day.  The kids loved exploring and discovering.  It was a bit difficult to have kids of such varied ages and abilities.  I was glad that my mom and sister were there to help.

 

We also made it up the canyon to play in the snow for an afternoon.  Mariah was having NOTHING to do with the snow clothes and threw an epic tantrum.  Finally, we just threw her out into the snow and tried to explain that the clothes would help her be warm.  she finally was talked into it and I realized she is getting to the age where she can start to be reasoned with or negotiated with.  

On Thanksgiving morning Melinda and I ran a race.  Despite being sick and having no voice for 6 days, I managed to run ok.  We both got 1st in our age group (actually I got 3rd, but the 1st 2 people placed in the top 3 overall). So we won a turkey.  All my kids ran and Hallie was amazing. 

Thanksgiving dinner was amazing as always.  My mom always does a great job feeding so many people.  the girls loved their own little table and I just found out that Mariah is a kid now... not a baby.  Pulling on my heartstrings. 

My Aunt Vickie is always awesome to host our families at her elementary school gym.  the kids LOVE playing with all the PE equipment and the adults enjoy watching the fun and gorging themselves on PIE!  

We spent Friday with the Gorley family for dinner and met Tom and Bethany for lights at the temple. 

We had the pleasure of riding a little train around a Lindon neighborhood.  It celebrated Christmas and took us to Santa's workshop.  Hallie was concerned that the workshop didn't have the toy she wanted.  Mariah is still terrified of the big guy.  

We made it back to Texas on Sunday.  We kind of went Crazy on black friday (we've been saving up a lot of thing) and had to check it all home (we checked 9 things... our limit is 10 whew!   The looks I got at the baggage claim were priceless!  Luckily, one nice man helped me move it all since Dave was out picking up our car.)

I can't thank my parents enough for being gracious and wonderful hosts.  I love to spend time at their home.    We also got a date night to celebrate our 8th anniversary.  We played racquetball, watched movies and caught Marcie up on all the happenings of the world for the past 18 months.