Since we've moved out West, we have always been either alone for Thanksgiving or celebrated with friends. I actually didn't mind having a holiday for just the 4 of us, as it suits our family very well. But I still made the huge meal and we always ended up with lots and lots of leftovers.
This year was different. We had the pleasure of having a part of the family visit us for Thanksgiving. Aunt Lois, Uncle Ryan and Adelia decided to leave warm sunny Florida for cold snowy Utah. (note to self: next time reverse the traveling so we all end up in warm weather!) It was Adelia's first time in Utah, her first time seeing and experiencing snow, and our first time seeing her as a full fledged toddler.
The Thanksgiving menu was very traditional: 12 lb turkey, stuffing (some cooked separately sans onions for Uncle Ryan), mashed potatoes (mostly for Quinn), sweet potato casserole (recipe from Ruth's Chris Steak House - absolutely divine!), carrots, butternut squash and homemade rolls. Desserts were pumpkin pie and dutch apple pie (Grammy's recipe made by Aunt Lois...and so so yummy!). With an extra 3 people in the house, we were able to polish off most of the leftovers at Thanksgiving Dinner Round 2 on Saturday night. Hopefully I have now completely dispelled the rumor that no leftovers are saved in our house :)
There was about a foot of snow on the ground before the weekend and another foot or so fell on Sunday into Monday. It was bitter cold too. Everyone went sledding on Thanksgiving (well not me, I gladly stayed home and cooked) and had fun. Adelia just observed mostly from what I heard and wasn't too crazy about the snow. She did try it again on Sunday and was slightly more entertained but not much. My kids though love it. Me, not so much.
We didn't do much of anything notable over the 4 day weekend -- or at least much out of the house. We played games...Texas Hold'Em with newly acquired poker chips, laughed ourselves silly with Beyond Balderdash, watched our newly put on DVD wedding video since Uncle Ryan wasn't there. It was interesting to go back to a 13 month old's schedule -- in between 2 1-hour naps and a 7:30 PM bedtime, there's not much time for large activities. But the fun of it was just being together with family. The kids adored spending time with their baby cousin. Keely wants a sister now (she's not getting one).
Thanks to a not so good reason they ended up spending another day with us. So Aunt Lois and I took that opportunity to take the kids to Discovery Gateway. We haven't been there for years and I figured it was just the place for a 1 year old. Well it seems the 9 and 7 years olds probably had more fun. We could have spent another hour but it was closing and we had to get dinner before picking Uncle Ryan up from the airport.
We were definitely sad to see them leave. It was a fun visit and we can't wait to see them again! Hopefully in warmer conditions...we are already looking at airfares to Florida to escape the winter doldrums.
Since we've moved out West, we have always been either alone for Thanksgiving or celebrated with friends. I actually didn't mind having a holiday for just the 4 of us, as it suits our family very well. But I still made the huge meal and we always ended up with lots and lots of leftovers.
This year was different. We had the pleasure of having a part of the family visit us for Thanksgiving. Aunt Lois, Uncle Ryan and Adelia decided to leave warm sunny Florida for cold snowy Utah. (note to self: next time reverse the traveling so we all end up in warm weather!) It was Adelia's first time in Utah, her first time seeing and experiencing snow, and our first time seeing her as a full fledged toddler.
The Thanksgiving menu was very traditional: 12 lb turkey, stuffing (some cooked separately sans onions for Uncle Ryan), mashed potatoes (mostly for Quinn), sweet potato casserole (recipe from Ruth's Chris Steak House - absolutely divine!), carrots, butternut squash and homemade rolls. Desserts were pumpkin pie and dutch apple pie (Grammy's recipe made by Aunt Lois...and so so yummy!). With an extra 3 people in the house, we were able to polish off most of the leftovers at Thanksgiving Dinner Round 2 on Saturday night. Hopefully I have now completely dispelled the rumor that no leftovers are saved in our house :)
There was about a foot of snow on the ground before the weekend and another foot or so fell on Sunday into Monday. It was bitter cold too. Everyone went sledding on Thanksgiving (well not me, I gladly stayed home and cooked) and had fun. Adelia just observed mostly from what I heard and wasn't too crazy about the snow. She did try it again on Sunday and was slightly more entertained but not much. My kids though love it. Me, not so much.
We didn't do much of anything notable over the 4 day weekend -- or at least much out of the house. We played games...Texas Hold'Em with newly acquired poker chips, laughed ourselves silly with Beyond Balderdash, watched our newly put on DVD wedding video since Uncle Ryan wasn't there. It was interesting to go back to a 13 month old's schedule -- in between 2 1-hour naps and a 7:30 PM bedtime, there's not much time for large activities. But the fun of it was just being together with family. The kids adored spending time with their baby cousin. Keely wants a sister now (she's not getting one).
Thanks to a not so good reason they ended up spending another day with us. So Aunt Lois and I took that opportunity to take the kids to Discovery Gateway. We haven't been there for years and I figured it was just the place for a 1 year old. Well it seems the 9 and 7 years olds probably had more fun. We could have spent another hour but it was closing and we had to get dinner before picking Uncle Ryan up from the airport.
We were definitely sad to see them leave. It was a fun visit and we can't wait to see them again! Hopefully in warmer conditions...we are already looking at airfares to Florida to escape the winter doldrums.
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