Thanksgiving in Utah

We got back last night from a short week in Utah to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Mills family. It's a long drive, we don't do it often and when we make the trip, I remember why we don't do it often.
Our family arrived last Sunday afternoon after breaking the drive in half on the way there. We had a wonderful Sunday dinner with the family... I sure miss those Sunday dinners.
Monday we did a little shopping for the forgotten but needed items left at home :) Mostly a recoop day from the drive and ended the day with a double movie FHE/ birthday party. The kids were downstairs watching the Lego movie while the adults stayed upstairs and watched Malificent. Interesting movie. We then had all the kids build a lego creation and then come in the kitchen to eat cake and sing to cousin Gwen for a belated birthday party for her.
Tuesday we went on a Temple scavenger hunt. It was neat to go see the new Payson temple (not open yet) up close and walk around the grounds a little. (until we got in trouble and asked to leave!)
We also went to see the Provo city center temple, also under construction, and hear some facts about that one from Grandma.
Tuesday night Billy, Dan and I took the cousins bowling, Billy really wanted to do this. It was a fun time! I think I bowled my best game ever the first game, 139! Sierra bowled a 113! We had the 3 girls and Jameson on our lane, Billy and Dan had the 4 boys that came. William, Zachary, Asher and Grant. The second game, I was getting the hang of where to place the bowling ball slide for Jameson and he ended up bowling a turkey and scoring 145! We were all rolling with laughter that he got 3 strikes in a row and the highest score of the night. He just smiled and looked at me and said " I beat mommy". I guess it was worth the $87 we paid to bowl 2 games with 10 people! (I know, obnoxious right)
Wednesday My Dad and Billy spent the entire day framing my sisters basement! She was so excited about this :) They got a fair amount of work in down there and framed up quite a few walls. The girls and children took a trip out to Jordon and walked around a shopping center that had set up an Elf scavenger hunt. It was a cute place. The cousins all had a blast running around finding the elves and at the end were rewarded with a candy stick. We spent the rest of the day prepping food for the big Thanksgiving feast.

Thursday, turkey day, was all about the kitchen. I got out on a run in the morning and Billy went shooting with the guys. Other than that, we cooked and cleaned and cooked and cleaned until it was time to eat. We had 35 people over for dinner, it was a grand dinner with lots of variety. I contributed a kale salad and squash gratin. There was 2 turkeys and 3 pans of stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole to die for, broccoli salad, cranberry sauce and jello jigglers. Two types of home made rolls and gravy's to cover it all. We ended the night with 4 types of pie; apple, pumpkin, pear cheddar and chocolate haupia. I enjoyed sitting next to my Grandma and hearing stories she remembered from when she was a little girl, it was a precious moment for me. It was the only day I got to spend with her out of the week, which made me a little sad, but my uncle Rod and family were staying with her and I didn't want to overwhelm her.

Friday was family picture day! Everyone met at the Mapelton city park. It was the perfect place to do it, a playground and plenty of grass for the kids to entertain themselves when they weren't posing. The park has a couple old pioneer homes and an old wagon too. We used them and we love the way the pictures came out! All the kids were great and the colors and outfits that were picked out matched together beautifully.

It was a wonderful week of family. The cousins really enjoyed playing with each other everyday and were so good for the most part. It just went by so fast!
I'm thankful for a wonderful and loving family and I'm thankful for our safe journey there and back in our great car.