Thanksgiving

Ella Bella had a school assignment to camouflage a turkey so he wouldn't get eaten. She chose to make him into an American flag, which I thought was so creative! Of course she had to find her shirt to match.

Wednesday it was finally time to go over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house! But first we stopped in Malad, ID to pick up Great Grandma Jean. The kids were pretty excited to see Ozzie, who lives with her now. Ella especially loves that kitty.

Thanksgiving morning began with watching the Macey's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Also predictably the kids played constantly with the marble track.

They enjoyed painting beautiful pictures to pass the time until the feast.

Thanks Grandma for the fun painting!

I had to nab a selfie with my cutie pie pudding.

I made my first cheeseball for an appetizer. They are so yummy.

In honor of the special day we tried to get a family photo. Ty is usually very compliant, but I think we took him away from some fun game with his cousins and he was grouchy. Jake, on the other hand, wins the smile prize!

 He finally smiled when the rest of us were making silly faces.

Noelle was very good at entertaining the large number of children. She put objects in a brown bag and played 20 questions for a good chunk of time.

We really enjoyed having Cole and Miyoko joins us from Colorado. It was amazing that they both took so much time off to spend the whole weekend with us. We had many entertaining late night conversations, massage trains, and bonding time.

The Thanksgiving meal itself is my favorite of the whole year! Dad is the master potato masher, and Dana braced herself spread eagle to help dump the huge pot.

Jake found the olives!

We sheepishly didn't have Mom jump in this picture, after all the hard work she did. Dana did the yams and pies, Noelle did the family rolls (with a funny story to back them up) and chocolate trifle, Emily did the veggie platter and cranberry sauce, and I did the green beans and spinach salad. Mom stuffed the turkey that Noelle had brined overnight in a delicious brew, and it was so tender!

Dana grabbed a picture of the adult table. When I sat down I had to soak it all in for a minute before I took a bite. It's not often I am in my favorite place with my favorite people! And this doesn't include the 12 kids who were present!

Here's one of the 4 year olds... these cuties sure love each other. They are grown enough now that they just disappear for hours, although we do have to ignore the tattling.

I got lots of snuggle time to soak up my new niece Andelyn. Oh man, she is intoxicating. It's a good thing I am having a baby girl of my own because I wanted to keep her.

Jake earned the name "Jake Nut" during this trip because he does things that are nutso! His favorite new trick is standing on Mike's back and then dropping to his belly.

Noelle wrangled the kids outside after dinner so they could work off some energy. 

They came in soaked and frozen, so Dana took all the pants to the dryer and I organized a game of underwear Twister.

Jake thought he wanted to play outside too, but while he was waiting for me to find his shoes he sacked out on the couch. I was actually thankful because with the timing of dinner he wasn't going to get a normal nap. This cute catnap held him over till bedtime.

The boys stepped up and gave the ladies a break in the kitchen. They got a good system going, and I think they enjoyed themselves a little too.

Cole was the official fire builder. He is proud of his boy scout talents.

The kids also warmed up with a cup of hot cocoa. Everything with this many kids is a production! 

Dad showed us his hand that her recently had surgery on. It's still swollen and bruised so he thought it was funny to scare everyone a little. The kids have been praying for him to get better soon so they were interested in seeing what happened.

At the end of the hectic day in the kitchen I caught Grandma in a peaceful moment with her newest grand baby.

On black Friday we started the day at Great Clips, cutting 10 heads of hair in the family. It was Jake's first real haircut, not done at home.

I forgot to snap a pic of Maddie, but the girls and I got much needed trims.

I didn't take many pictures that day but the adult ladies did some Christmas shopping, and then we went and picked up everyone else to go to the new Pixar movie "The Good Dinosaur."

When we got home we decorated the sugar cookies Grandma made for us.

Again Noelle entertained all the kids with a dance party in the basement. The boys got hot and took their shirts off. They enjoyed showing their guns.

Saturday I didn't take many pictures but it was spent watching BYU play the USU Aggies. It was a touchy game with avid fans from both sides! Afterwards Grandpa took the whole family bowling. Maddie was a super responsible helper, keeping her lane hopping!

Jake loved the new experience... and the arial tricks with Daddy!

Mike and Landon had a friendly competition going. Even down to the last frame they were neck and neck. Mike pulled out the win with some luck (I may have kissed the ball) and one last under the leg shot. 

All good things have to end... and this was a big ending. Zak and Noelle left Saturday night to go back to Rexburg for one more day before the movers came and they drove to their new home in Texas! Right as the girls were saying goodbye they also realized they will miss Emrie's baptism in February, and to say it was theatrical is an understatement. These sweet cousins sure love each other!

We packed up after church on Sunday, and on the way out Jake got the better of me and a tupperware of cranberry sauce. I set it on the banister (bad idea) to chase him with a marble in his mouth. He was tempted by the balancing leftovers and he pushed them over the side. It was a slow motion moment when I saw the cranberry sauce hit the carpet and splash up the walls. Sigh.

It didn't end on a sweet note, but it was wonderful to spend time home sweet home! I sure am thankful for my overflowing blessings.