Happy Thanksgiving!

We missed having Bug with us this year, but always love having Thanksgiving at the beach. And we got to talk to Bug, who despite not having any sort of celebration today, is happy and well. As he said, he gets to stuff himself every day for lunch, so it kind of always feels like Thanksgiving in that way, haha. (Apparently Brazilians love to feed the missionaries and want them to take seconds, thirds. . . sometimes even fifths.)

We had an early lunch reservation at the Hunter Steakhouse--11 a.m. is a little early for Thanksgiving dinner, but it was nice to have the rest of the afternoon for the beach and hot tub.

And then a lot of us went to see Wicked 2: For Good at the theater that night. I love that there are so many restaurants and things to do within a mile of the condos so we can walk most everywhere. It was really nice walking home by the beach later that night.

Daddy-o and our kids did a late-night taco run to Tacos El Gordo with a couple other cars of people, but I like sleeping even more than tacos (and that is saying something because those are really good tacos.)

All in all, it was a day to be thankful, for sure. I don't take it for granted that we are able to have this kind of Thanksgiving every other year and have people to do it with. We are so blessed to live in a gorgeous state and be able to travel and enjoy all the variety it includes. We're blessed with good friends, family, and more than we need to take care of ourselves, and also with opportunities to share and help others who aren't so fortunate. And I hope we never forget that.

Over the River

And through the woods, To Grandmother's house we go!

When we realized that the kids had the whole week off at Thanksgiving, we thought it would be fun to spend the holiday in Utah with family and friends.

And fun it was! We shopped, saw friends, hung out with all our Utah family, ate great food, and played lots of games.

We were able to squeeze in the Museum of Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point with friends one afternoon. We'd been there once a few years ago and the kids were excited to go back.

It's a fun place, with so much to experience and do. (Hang like a sloth, anyone?)

(I can't believe Bug was able to build this without anyone destroying it. Of course, right when he was about to wreck it while we filmed in slow motion, a kid DID come through and destroy it, but I was surprised that didn't happen every minute or two as he tried to build it.)

Thanksgiving day meant lots of food prep. I had come down with a pretty bad cold on the drive out (it was as if my body knew that I was slowing down and ready for a week of no responsibilities and no stress, so perfect time to be out of commission), so I stayed out of the way and let me kids step in. 

And they did a great job! It was fun watching them work with my mom and brother (and Daddy-o did all the pies, of course).

Peanut even helped with setting the table.

We had a great afternoon with my whole family--they all have Thanksgiving together every year, but I don't think we have been around for it since the year we got engaged.

Codenames is the perfect game for a big group with a big age span.

We had a lot of fun with some of the "connections" people were trying to make.  

This sweet little baby was teething and not having as much fun as most of us, poor thing. But we had a few happy moments playing together.

Friday was our last day and we were able to fit in visits with more friends (some of our favorite neighbors from Charlotte!)

and another round of cousins at their new house. We now have my whole family and two of Daddy-o's siblings who live in Utah.

And then Saturday morning, we woke to this! Not what we were hoping to drive home in. I started having flashbacks to February when the same thing happened as I was trying to leave with the kids and we had a very miserable first part of our trip.

But this time, the roads weren't quite as bad, and Daddy-o did the driving so I didn't have to panic :) 

All in all, it was a great week. I keep saying it, but we are so glad we get to see our families more often--we're pretty lucky with the people we are related to!

Thankful

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving with a whole bunch of family this year.

7 of the 9 siblings came to Grandma and Grandpa's house,

which meant 21 cousins together for an afternoon of running around. They had all types of games going--totally reminded me of Thanksgivings at my grandparents' when I was young. Fun times. This right here is why we felt the need to move back to this coast. And our kids are loving getting to see their cousins several times a year instead of every several years.

Thankful

I think I've mentioned that these last few weeks have been rough. Actually, the last few months have been rough. There have been a lot of homesick tears and adjustment frustrations. But there are things to be grateful for with this move and these people are part of that.

Our second weekend in town, we got to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa, and two of Daddy-o's brothers for an anniversary dinner for his parents. Here's the cousin line-up from just three families (and missing the oldest cousin who's off at college this year)! We're thankful that the kids will see cousins a lot more often.

The next week was Thanksgiving, which meant more grandparent time. 

We ate great food, played lots of games, watched movies, collected eggs and vegetables from the garden that was still going strong. 

We're thankful that we'll get to spend more days with Grandma and Grandpa, and for the awesome CA weather that means fresh tomatoes in November.

Thanksgiving week also meant a chance to meet up with some Charlotte friends who moved to the Bay Area this summer, just a few months ahead of us. These two girls were so excited to be reunited, even if it was only for a few hours.

We're so thankful for friends!

And Thanksgiving weekend also meant meeting up with some of my old friends from jr. high/high school. I didn't take many pictures, but there were 4 of us, plus spouses and kids. We spent a couple hours at the Oakland Museum of California and then went for lunch.

It's fun seeing the next generation together. We're thankful that we can spend time with lifelong friends and their families.

We may miss an awful lot of things, but there are a lot of things we have to be thankful for in California, too.