Steve and I picked Shawn up at the SL airport on Monday night, Nov. 21st and drove up to CV. Tuesday morning while Shawn did conference calls, Tiffany and I prepared food and I washed clothes in preparation for our trek to ID that afternoon. By the time we arrived at Heather's, Hilary's family was already there and our Thanksgiving reunion began in earnest. Heather did a lot of zoning during our two day visit. Thanks, Heather, for sharing your knowledge and talent. We all benefit!
Thursday morning Adam mixed the dough for his fabulous rolls. With the help of several assistants, I prepared cranberry dip, crockpot sweet potatoes and apples, stuffing with pinenuts and mushrooms, veggies, etc. By shortly after 11 a.m. we were all on the road to Kathy and Brent's home. We love our Thanksgiving traditions.
Having Tiffany, Shawn and Abigail join us is always a big plus. This year we were surprised even more when all four of Kathy's boys showed up at 1 o'clock for dinner. We can't remember the last time we saw Jeff. It was a miracle.
Jeff's son, Shad, drove up from California and surprised his parents. He is in the marines and recently returned from a deployment in Iraq. That is another miracle we are all grateful for.
We are always grateful for the plates of delicious food.
All of the Lewis family gathered together for a rare picture. The weather was great.
Jeff, Jake, Logan and Dustin stand together for the first time in several years. What a tender mercy.
The kids gathered around for the pinatas. We really missed our 30 year bowling tradition this year as the bowling alley manager retired and the owner wasn't willing to come in on Thanksgiving. The bowling alleys were closed. So sad!
Saturday morning, Aaron and his brother, Bryant, gathered their temple names and their teenagers and headed to the Rexburg temple. They returned an hour later after a nice breakfast. The wait to do baptisms was several hours long so they took the kids to breakfast and opted to reschedule the baptisms.
The cousins loved playing together and we loved visiting and eating the leftovers. Families are one of the blessings we count during this season of thankfulness. It's so good to take time to count those blessings.
Steve and I are still recovering from our big trip and struggling with jet lag. Every day gets a little better.
