Thanksgiving Holiday

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We had so much fun with our family that was there and missed those that weren't there. Jeff and I took the kids down Tuesday Night to Utah to stay with my big brother Jon and his family. We went down early because Jeff had a doctors appointment with the Doctor there at the University. The appointment was Wednesday and we both felt that it went really well. We had a fun day in Salt Lake together. Jon and Kyla watched the kids while we went to the doc and then went to eat lunch and had the anticipated visit to IKEA!!! I have been dying to go! My sister Sara took me to the one in Seattle when I went to go visit her and I just fell in love. There is one in Draper, UT which is just a couple of miles from Jon's and so Jeff and I went and had such a fun time looking around. Wednesday, the rest of the family came. Ben came from Salt Lake that morning and then Joe and his family came later on that day. When Jeff and I got back, they were all there. Mom and Dad came later that night. Let the fun begin!!

The "girls" did most of the the preparation for the following days dinner and even though it may not have been just like mom's. It was fun trying. We made all of the pies and they even turned out even despite our inexperience! I think that mom enjoyed not having to lift much of a finger-just her voice every once in a while to let us know what she would advise. The kids of coarse made their contribution by decorating the Turkey sugar cookies which is a tradition in the Ostenson Family!!! The Picture above is the tower of Turkey cookies we created!

The kids had a blast together! Getting the cousins together is the best babysitting ever!! Dad even made the comment that when the cousins get together, they don't get to see them every often because they are always off being together and not with grandma and grandpa! It is so fun to watch them be together. Their favorite game that they played as many times as they could was the animal sound game. It is where you all sit in a circle and the center person puts a blindfold on and as they get twirled around, people switch seats and then the person takes a pillow and feels around for a lap. When they decide of a lap, they sit on their pillow (used to disguise the lap they are sitting on) and ask that person to make an animal noise, such as-"make an elephant noise", or the kids' favorite- "make a snake noise." When that person gets done with their animal noise, the blindfolded victim has to try to guess whose lap they are on! It is a riot-even more fun with all adults! The kids loved it! They played it at least twice a day!

Thanksgiving day was indeed a day for Thanksgiving! What a great time we had all together! I am thankful for my family! It is great to be able to spend the holidays with family. We missed that while we were Boise. That night we played a rousing game of adult cranium where I will never forget Jon trying to use dad as his puppet to get the rest of the boys to guess "milking a cow"!! We also took the whole family to see Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium (very cute). The girls went shopping on Friday and left the kids home with the boys. It was great to shop, but even more fun being with just the girls!! Our talk at Subway I will never forget. It meant a lot to me to be there with them and to discuss the deep matters of our life! The girls also made a craft one night. These signs that say; Call it a Clan, Call it a Network, Call it a Tribe, Call it a Family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one! They turned out so cute.

Our last night there, we went out just the adult to a fun Mexican Restaurant and had so much fun together!! The funnest part about it was that we didn't have to hire a babysitters, Jon and I both have children old enough to stay home and be with the other children! Thank you to Jon and Kyla for putting up with us those few days. I am sure they were relieved when we all left! What a great time though!!

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving as well. We all have so much to be grateful for. It's nice to have a day to remember that!