Thanksgiving in Utah

Our time in Utah went by way too fast. I miss it more and more each time we go back. Lia, Jacob, and Amelia made a nest out of blankets to sleep in while we were there. I am not sure they got much sleep! We visited Courtenay and John across the yard a few times, cousins streamed in and out back and forth between the houses. We went to lunch at Del Taco, a family favorite, for lunch. James, Miekka, and I worked on Thanksgiving dinner preparations like rolls, sweet potatoes, and brining meat. I got to walk through Walmart mostly alone and do a bit of shopping. Miekka was there looking for Seth pants. Around 3:30 we rushed out of the door to take family photos for the Lances. A storm was coming, we barely beat it. During the photo session I witnessed "the raptor" a new signature move the boys pulled out. They had me laughing! Sweet Lia changed into her baptism dress for some photos in that. Not 20 minutes after the session ended we heard hail, sleet, and wind rush down the mountains. Jana was also at the house with Hannah to play for the afternoon. Hannah is such a sweetheart. We tried to go out on a girl's date with Jana, Hannah, Miekka, Courtenay, Josie, and I. We headed North on Redwood when Miekka's windshield wipers quit working. That was a bit harrowing to drive in rain/sleet with no wipers. We had Jana go home while we went back to the Lances and traded vehicles. Everyone was hangry, I had a migraine, so we settled for something good but fast, a burger place in American Fork. Afterward we browsed Target for Stocking Stuffers. Jojo was not so happy with the car ride or the length of time we spent in Target. Once home we made pies for dessert: apple and pumpkin and a crustless pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving day was quite beautiful, cold and clear. Most of the day we lazed about doing something here and another thing there. James taught the kids some yoyo skills. My boys were totally hooked! They call James the yoyo ninja master. James smoked a brisket and a turkey for dinner. While naps were going on Evelyn and I vacuumed out the disgusting van. Argh, it was like a garbage can on wheels. I felt much better about traveling after cleaning it out some. My brothers and sister started trickling on over around 3:30 or 4. It was so nice to visit with them all. Also in attendance was Grandma Baerwaldt and Uncle Scott. John and Court were holding their own dinner across the way, we saw them a bit after their family left. Lots of fun chatter and smiles went around. Dinner was of course marvelous. Kat made her famous mashed potatoes, proven to make one gain 3 pounds per serving. Jana made the most delicious apple cheesecake bars. We talked with Dad over in Saudi for a bit on Facetime. My kids were not happy about me taking a kid photo. I think it turned out hilariously near the truth. Grandma Baerwaldt asked us to start a new tradition of making ornament boxes for each child, when they leave home the child can take their box of ornaments! She started us each out with a handmade ornament. After everyone was gone, dinner mostly cleaned up, and the kids in bed the older folks watched the new Star Trek movie. The girls applied gel nail polish, talked, annoyed the boys, and shopped for Black Friday deals that actually started on Thursday. I swear it gets worse every year. Still, the deals were hard to beat.

We drove up to Charity's for the day on Friday, with a short stop to the distribution center so I could get a temple tent dress. I ordered one with a back zipper that was quite hard to close myself, returned that one and got the tent. Function over beauty! Evelyn was quite tired by this point. We moved some toys into Charity's bedroom so she could play and the adults could visit. Raquel and Scot came down for a visit as well. I love how the cousins just disappear together! The girls worked on art for an art show. The boys played nerf guns and with the preschool toys. Josie showed off her cute smiles and duck laughs for everyone. We stayed the night at Grandma Debbie's in Taylorsville. She fed us spaghetti for dinner. As soon as we arrived the kids headed to the fat jiggler machine. Uncle Scott was unsure where the strange racket came from! After the kids were asleep I toured the new home my parents and Scott purchased. It is HUGE! Should be a good investment for everyone involved. Course, I adored the alone time chatting with my mom. We bonded over our hatred for our phones. I hate being tethered to one more thing. I am tethered to 6 wriggling, thrashing leashes right now. Adding the phone responsibility just puts it over the top for me. I miss the old days when folks only had house phones and getting in touch was not such a demand for immediate responses. Folks, I am over my head busy with raising just the humans in my care.

The weather forecast worsened over night, by Saturday morning it looked terrible. We decided to leave immediately for home, not wanting to get stuck in WY for days with I-80 closures. Jana came over to give us hugs and let us squeeze Hannah. I was totally bummed since we had a shopping trip planned together and then an evening at Temple Square with the kids. Instead we crammed our stuff into the van and headed home with the wind at our back. Gratefully, the trip home was quick and uneventful. Evelyn was so cute each time she noticed Christmas lights, oohing and aahing. We pulled into our driveway around 9 pm.

Sunday I stayed home with the kids because Josie and Evelyn were pouring snot and I still had a nasty headache. The kids and I organized a Primary lesson with songs and stories from the friend. We really enjoyed doing that. Justin helped get the Christmas stuff out of the attic. That is rather tricky now since the pull down stairs are broken. I took photos off the wall and made stacks of decorations to put away for Christmas. I am thinking after Christmas I might paint the living room! Fresh walls will give the room a much needed face lift.