Our Thanksgiving Reality...

Well, things went mostly according to plan for Thanksgiving and overall we had a fairly decent time. Here is what happened...

Thursday: My mom was called out on a Red Cross Mental Health something or other for the guy that got stuck in the Nutty Putty Caves - she had to do some bereavement counseling with workers and family members so she was gone from 4:00 a.m. until almost 12:30 p.m. It didn't put a damper on our Thanksgiving at all because my dad is a trooper and a great cook and he took over the extra parts of Thanksgiving that my mom would usually do. I think Melissa helped as well. Travis made the green bean casserole and boy was he proud of himself - We made it in the crockpot and it was much better than I remember it being last year. Probably because we had it at his family's house last year and it was pretty runny. ANYWAY - We had one of my mom's colleagues over for Thanksgiving dinner as well - Hagen (I probably spelled his name wrong) and he told us all about his anthropological dig in South America this summer and I will admit I was fascinated! Who knew you could tell so much about people and their political schema by their teeth! Crazy! After dinner we played a friendly round of Boxers or Briefs (this game is not sold in stores anymore but if you can get a copy of one I highly recommend it - it keeps us laughing for hours!). If you get a chance, ask Travis about my bootylicious mother! Good times! After the game we prepared our game plan for Black Friday and then Travis and I went home to relax for the rest of the day.

Friday: Travis and I woke up at 3:15 to leave the house by 3:30 to go to Kohls to buy 3 things. The doors opened at 4:00 a.m. and it was a madhouse by the time we go there. If you know the Jordan Landing area at all, you will know what I'm talking about. The line started at the doors on the west side, wrapped around to the north and all the way around the east side of the store... it was a LONG line! Travis and I were in line right in front of the Northern doors. Luckily, Travis and I went in and knew where we were going and got all 3 things that we wanted and got in line right away. We were out of Kohls by 4:30. We thought everywhere opened at 4 so we went to Target and Best Buy but they weren't open and instead of waiting for them to open we decided to go home and back to bed. We woke up again around 8:30 in the morning and got ready and packed up to head out to St. George. With our trunk full of dog stuff, our one duffel bag for people stuff and a tummy full of churros - we loaded ourselves and carmel corn from the popcorn cottage into my car and were on our way to St. George by 10:45 a.m. We got there at about 3 o'clock - I think we made rather good time! When we were walking out to the casita to unload our stuff Lucy (having never been at the in-laws before and having never seen a pool before) tried to take a short cut across the lawn and jumped unknowingly right into the deep end of the pool. Within seconds she was doggy paddling across the pool to the other side where Travis pulled her out! It's a good thing she can swim because I didn't want to jump in fully clothed! After that excitement we unpacked our stuff and hung out until the other family got there. That evening we had dinner and watched G.I. Joe before going to bed pretty early! I did get a phone call from my brother around 9:10 p.m. saying that little Conner Jason had been born just then, I even heard him cry! He's a hefty baby of 9 lbs and 20 1/2 in. Brian said he would send me a picture! Yay for being an Aunt again!

Saturday: When we woke up this morning we were going to take it easy since it was Thanksgiving again. However, everyone else had other plans. Annette, Sara, and myself went to a craft fair (I only spent $12.00!!!) and then to Kohls to do some shopping while the kids swam. By the time we got home I was ready to swim as well and hopped in with everyone else. Travis spent about 5 hours in the pool and I was in there for probably 2 1/2. It was nice and relaxing. We tried to get the dogs in the pool, but they were NOT getting close to the water. I guess they knew! :) After we swam we got all ready again for Thanksgiving dinner followed by Four Christmases. Again, Travis and I had a pretty early night.

Sunday: Travis and I woke up, got ready, packed up, had breakfast, rolled up the pool cover and drove home! We were out of there by 10:45 ish again and drove the LONG drive home. Of course, we took a short cut and stopped in Springville to see baby Conner. What a darling little boy! He has such chubby cheeks and knees... such a cutie pie! The poor little guy is all bruised from the forceps and such, but I guess that's just how it goes right?! Austin didn't seem to care about the baby while we were there even though he had only met him just before we got there! After holding my precious nephew we went back home the rest of the way, unpacked, and just lazed around until bedtime.

Sadly, we had a really uneventful Thanksgiving - although there was some unspoken drama and anger at Thanksgiving on Saturday - it was quite a long weekend. Travis and I didn't have time to just hang out, clean the house, and do our regular weekend routine things... So, when we had to wake up for work yesterday - it was really difficult to get out of bed!!! I'm hoping that soon enough we will have our own family and can create our own traditions for holidays rather than have to fit everyone elses plans.... We will see won't we!!!