Monday, December 1, 2008

Gobble, Gobble!

What a fun Thanksgiving weekend! This year Chad and his dad and brother, Cade, all got drawn for the Elk Hunt this year. The area they were hunting is up near Flagstaff so we had this great idea to have Thanksgiving dinner at Samantha & Tyrel's house. It was that or not have my husband there for Thanksgiving. We bought a used camping trailer, along with Chad's parents, a week ago so that the men wouldn't freeze to death on their hunt. So we all took the camper up on Tues. to set up camp and spend some time together before Thanksgiving. I forgot to take any pictures of that adventure so you will have to use your imagination! The camper sleeps 6 and the 2nd night Cade joined us so we had 9 sleeping in there. Chad and Cade had to sleep together one night so you can imagine all the comments, warnings, and cracks that were made about that! At least we were all warm! It rained the whole time we were there so Grandma, me, and the kids stayed in the trailer and played dominos and watched movies the whole time. The kids had fun but I was glad we were only there that one whole day! Lauren may not have survived another day! Thursday morning we all left camp for Samantha's house where Nate & LeaAnn were also gathered with their families. We had a house full but the cousins all had such a good time and the adults played darts and this new game called "Ticket to Ride" and I loved it! Maybe because I won 2 times! Samantha made a great dinner, no thanks to me for forgetting to bring my roaster, and then the men and Elaine left to go back to camp. I stayed at Samantha's for the whole weekend and we had a great time! Tyrel's parents stopped by for a visit and brought this little 4-wheeler for the kids to ride. Here is a cute pic of Lauren-she loved it!Here are some of the cousins playing outside at Samantha's house. We were so glad the rain was stopped on Wednesday! The weather was so nice and the kids played outside for most the day! Of course, Carson is missing from the picture. He was most likely inside reading his scriptures, but I will explain that later...
Breakfast time is sure easy when all the kids just want to eat cereal. It was great not having to cook the rest of the weekend! My favorite is ham (don't love turkey) and Samantha makes this twice baked potato casserole that is just yummy!
Here is me with my girls! It was so nice to just "hang out" this Thanksgiving as a guest. I didn't have to run around, doing a million things at once. I did get to take some pictures of Nathan and his family and Samantha and hers. They will most likely post them on their blogs. Friday Walt and Tyrel took all the kids on a hike near their house while Sam, LeaAnn, and I did a little shopping. The trail took them up this hilltop that has a few large craters. It was just the right distance and had tunnels and caves and the kids even found a tarantula on the way. Yuck! Sorry I missed it! Flagstaff is really a great place to do all sorts of outdoor stuff!


Here is some of the gang sitting around watching football and looking at the map to see where the best place to find elk might be. I have spoken to Chad a couple times since they left and they have yet to see any elk! The kids and I left Sunday after church a came home. We all miss Chad, especially Lauren. She keeps asking me where he is, hoping I will give her a different answer than "hunting". Chad really doesn't go out of town very often (only for scout trips) so it is strange having him gone for a week. It just makes me all that more grateful for him! I feel so blessed to have such a great family, extended family included. We have such a great time together! My parents spent Thanksgiving up in Vancouver, WA at my brother's house and 3 other brothers came with their families. They had a fun time too, I just wish were all together! That's what you get for having such a big family. I am so grateful for the 3 siblings I have here in AZ and that we get together as often as we do! So much to be thankful for!








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