A Utah Thanksgiving!

We flew straight from Arizona to Utah to start our holiday fun and Utah did not disappoint us, even though there was no snow. We had hoped to do some more sledding with Max, but it was not to be. Instead, we played wallyball and racquetball, had family pictures taken, went to the park, visited family, celebrated birthdays, had a DWTS party, watched some NBA games, and went shooting at the gun range. And when I say "we" I mean mostly Blake. Max and I did participate in the parking, visiting, celebrating, and partying, but it was Blake who got enough physical activity to last him until next year--if he can move by then.

There was only one minor set back during all of this fun. Poor Max had the throw-ups one night. It's times like this that Mommy LOVES being at Grandma's house!And all this fun was BEFORE Thanksgiving. We started out Thanksgiving Day by going to the zoo for the Feast with the Beasts. They had scheduled times throughout the morning that they would feed the animals their Thanksgiving dinners and you could go watch. We decided the crowds were too big during the feedings and roamed the zoo on our own. The animals were definitely putting on a show for us. They were right up against the fences moving around like crazy. Max's favorite was definitely the tiger. And Max was such a good sport in the cooler weather, even though he couldn't put his arms down in his big coat, similar to the little boy on "Christmas Story." He looked so cute! And thanks Grandma for staying home with Jack so we could have so much fun!

For Thanksgiving dinner we went over to Grandma's house. Almost all the family was there. I LOVED the turkey, Grandma's cranberry relish, sweet potato pie, and for the first time in my 26 years, the pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie now, my tastes must have definitely matured. And of course, we took NO pictures of Thanksgivng dinner, the main event, the reason we went to Utah. I guess we were too busy eating!

But yes, as soon as Thanksgiving was over, we moved straight on to Christmas. Christmas is getting earlier and earlier, but we don't mind. My parents decided to celebrate Christmas on Thanksgiving this year, since it's their off year. We were all so excited that no one would help Mom decorate the tree--we went straight to presents. Max loved opening his gifts. After opening a football, he thought the rest of his gifts would be "balls." And I'm pretty sure we gave Andy, Bri, and Tony their favorite gifts of the season--custom-made bleaching trays. Those lucky kids.

But I'm DEFINITELY sure that I was the big winner! I got the camera that I'd been wanting for so long. Thank you so much Mom and Dad! We are so thankful for all our family!