K is for There Would Still Be More

...there would still be more!

and more! 

to be thanKful for.

(that's from a song learned in primary this month).

This year we flew to St. George for Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for easy, free flights to see family.

It was stress free, pretty wide open flights, we all sat together and the flight attendants gave us free snacks. 

They treat us like royalty, and the kids sat together and did their own thing. 

I'm thankful for family to spend the weekend with. 

I'm so thankful for all the dogs - the house full of the sweetest dogs. 

There was Murphy of course, but we were also dog sitting Morgan's dog and Grandma Cook's dog. 

Those two big dogs are the best dogs ever. 

Murphy has such a tender heart. He literally hugs you when you sit/stand by him. He makes each one of us feel special and loved. 

That may seem silly and whatever, but I am positive he feels the sadness that has been in this house for 4 years, and he has become the best therapy dog. He was always a great dog, but this trip specifically he was so attentive to every person. So many hugs and so much love. 

Dogs just know things that are invisible. 

I'm thankful for sunshine and healthy bodies.

Thanksgiving morning Sharley took us to these stairs to get some exercise. 

Jamie and her girls also met us there. I only did three laps, but the other kids and Jim and Sharley did 6 laps. 

I am not kidding when I say we were all hobbling around SORE in the calves from this fun activity. 

I loved it. 

I'm so thankful for good food.

I'm thankful that Sharley has found a special friend (boyfriend!). She is so so happy and is having so much fun, and I am so happy for her. It feels so good to hear her laugh and play and joke. 

I'm so thankful for my kids and their unique personalities. 

It's truly miraculous that each child could come from the same set of genes and be so completely different. 

Avery is so wise,

Evan is so playful,

 Andrew is so quirky. 

Teddy is so playful too. They are a good team. 

I'm so thankful for the Christmas season.

Lights and excitement and traditions. 

My kids are so excited to watch Christmas movies and do all our traditions. It's such a fun and fast month. 

I'm thankful for the memories Jim and I have of our lives in Southern Utah together. 

My college years were some of my favorite and Jim was right there in it. 

I'm thankful for the temple. It's so good. 

I'm thankful for hikes, and SUNSHINE. Did I already mention the sunshine?

Sandstone and views and memories. 

Evan remembered this hike from about 10 years ago. Little Andrew bonked his head on some rock outcropping that day.  

It was a fun, fast trip.

Puzzles, so much food, cousins, dogs, always a full belly, Grandma and Grandpa, rolls, swimming with Damon, shopping with Reese/Sammy.

V is for VISITORS

I feel so lucky that we were able to go to St. George for Thanksgiving this year. 

We woke up so early and flew down as the sun came up.

The plane was pretty empty, so we got spoiled with lots of room and lots of treats from the flight attendants.

Renting a car is always the worst unknown, and this time it was insane. Two hours of chaos later we were on our way to The Funks. 

We just dropped in to a warm, smell good house full of food and family busy cooking all the meal for us. 

We ate and did puzzles and watched movies. 

Lots of pie. Pie is my favorite. 

The next night we went to the desert Christmas lights. 

Saturday Riley had a booth at the Farmer's Market, so we went and bought stuff and helped her clean up when it was over.

We met up with Rob and Mary and ate pizza, 

and watched the live nativity. It was cold, so good thing it was super short and sweet. 

I would say the highlight of the trip was playing with their dogs. haha

Such sweetie pie dogs. 

Murphy would tuck us in and wake us up in the morning. 

Koda didn't mind that we were having a good time with other dogs behind her back...

We cheated on her, she cheated on us. It's all good. 

haha She loves Kyle so much. Kyle is her boyfriend. 

It felt so good to be with family. It feels like there's never enough family time. 

We needed

 one more day with the Funks

one more hour with Rob and Mary. 

 

G is for Go to Fallon For Thanksgiving

I have so many pictures of giant adult sized cousins congregating in rooms. We used to fit on one couch or two, but now it takes the floor, the chairs, the other room, the garage, the outside for us to fit. 

**a few stressful things about this trip: 1. My kids got super sick starting about the week before we left. They were still coughing and not feeling awesome by the time we got there. Our flight was a late one, so we pulled into Rob and Mary's around 1:00 am. I was very stressed about traveling sick and getting people sick. Geez I think I aged about 5 years the day before we launched. 

2. Jim only had Wednesday off, so he flew with us and stayed 24 hours to get in on the family pictures. It was fun to have him for a tiny baby amount of time, but we missed him on actual Thanksgiving day.**

After family pictures, we went roller skating. 

I was just about to take Jim to the airport...we were walking out the door...and Aaron mentioned "I'm going to the airport in a few hours to pick up Brad." So we consolidated and had Jim drive a car and leave it at the airport for Brad. It was such a relief to delete two trips there and back for me and Aaron. 

Skating was fun, except my poor kids were just wiped out. They still felt a bit lousy and were so tired from the little sleep the night before. 

We ended the night with fudge sundeas at Kim and Aaron's. 

Emily called out, "gather round everyone, I have a story about your mom". 

She then told about the time we were all home from college. Me Emily and Nettie were driving to town in the dark. I had the hiccups, heaven forbid. Nettie kept demanding I stop. I couldn't because: hiccups. 

She said if I hiccuped again, I would have to walk home.

I hiccuped again. 

She made me get out of the car. It was dark and cold on Allen Road. I walked. 

They turned around to get me eventually. 

I mooned them when they got close enough to see my butt. 

I said "this story is more about Nettie than it is about me."

haha so good. 

The next day we had a Dairy Dash bright and early. 

Poor Annie fell off the four wheeler at one point hurt her arm. Lyle the Vet confirmed that it was most likely not broken. 

After we finished, me and Emily went to check out grandpa's old pool. It was dusty and dirty. Not like it was when I was a kid. I spent all my summers in that pool. 

Look at this line up of large adult sized children for their turkey. 

We sent most of them out to eat in the garage. 

This is how the cousins gather up and "hang out" these days. 

So many middle school/high school/university kids.

Not sure how we got here. 

We played a hot round of LCR. 

$94 dollars were in the pot. 

Every person thought they would walk away with the pot. 

It came down to Evan, June, and Morgan I think. 

Finally it was just Evan. he had just been handed a dollar the round before. 

Then he rolled a dot, and we all exploded. He about fainted. 

Andy took the pot and poured the dollars over his head. 

He was shaky and sweaty when he came and hugged me. 

It was so awesome. So fun. 

We ended the night lounging around digesting all the good food and good pie. 

Us five were in the sitting room sitting...

and then Jamie farted. It gave us all permission, and immediately that was followed up with

Emily fart,

Brandon fart, 

Kelli fart, 

and another Jamie fart. 

We died laughing. Let's not pretend our bodies aren't full of digested gasses anymore!

Oh yeah, Calvin was sitting there dying as well. 

This is a safe space, Calvin. No one will get mad at farting in here.

He said "we aren't allowed to THINK about farting in our house."

haha

Friday morning we headed to the gym. 

We did a favorite things swap. 

The kids did a "pass the parcel". Wyatt stole the cotton candy machine from sweet little Hattie.

The Petersons left and we all cried. 

We went on a sunset walk. 

We ate dinner at Pizza Factory.

This lasted forever and ever.

We ended the night making cotton candy for the whole crew. 

We did lots of Be Reels. Look at Andrew's "be real" pose. He always closes his eyes like it was an accident. 

Dang I just love being with all these people. We all just want to be together in the same space. 

We don't always physically fit together, but no one wants to be anywhere else but with all the people. 

Mom and Dad had to get up super early for the temple the next morning, so we kept the chaos at Rob's and then Aaron's. 

Saturday. Our last day. boo. 

We spent the morning in the church gym playing chair soccer and bump and dancing. 

I love them!

The Kelvington's won 80% of the games. 

Then we descended upon McDonalds for lunch. 

Me Mom Emily and Jamie went for a walk.

These four kids were working on getting 8 cows that were "out" back into the coral. 

They worked for hours.

They finally quit after they got 6 of the cows back in. 

We walked past the Tree House. It's all cut down now, but when I was a kid it was full of branches and seats and levels. There was a rickety slide to get down. 

This is all that's left of it. 

We ended the night with diamond dot art and chatting. 

Abbey and Ashley started making memes about our week. They are so hilarious and I love how they capture the inside jokes and the memories. 

Leaving is the hardest. My kids cry.

Avery was crying and said "this is the only place I am truly happy."

That's not totally true, but Fallon with family is for sure one of the most special, safe places for us.