A “Little Rascals” Thanksgiving

At the last minute we decided to travel up North to be with our son and his family for Thanksgiving. I am glad we did. We had a wonderful time as always. The drive there was crazy, a steady stream of headlights traveling south on the freeway. Were all those people going to St. George? Not once in the 2 hour drive North did we see a break in traffic headlights! We turned off onto a scenic hwy (the back road) for the other 2 hours, and we were pretty much alone on the road…even the deer seemed to stay off the road, thank goodness. The temp gage in the car read 14 degrees at one point. I was thankful for the warm interior of the car. I also brought along blankets and pillows in case of an emergency.

We arrived late and the children were in bed asleep. Thanksgiving morning was cold and crisp…the waterfall in the back yard reminded me of a mountain stream… Camille was already busy in the kitchen with the help of Mike…they are so cute together, this is one Thanksgiving I DIDN’T DO A THING! Just played with the the “Little Rascals”

WWe even hung out in our P.J.’s for a while! well at least the kids and Papa did….

the fire place stove was lit and candles on the beautiful arrangement Mike gave Camille were glowing….it was going to be a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Camille is a fantastic cook. She is always busy in her kitchen and this year she made a Lemon Meringue Pie! A first for her. And it turned out beautifully! A HUGE hit, as this is one of my favorites!

I didn’t even have to set the table! It was magically done as I was playing with the “Little Rascals” We were assigned our seats and under our dinner plate was a question to answer. It made for a lot of fun and crazy conversation during dinner. My question was, IF I HAD ONE MONTH TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING OR DO SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD I DO? well the first thing that came to my mind….silly me….was to be on Dancing with the Stars! Who would have guessed? LOL

View Full Album

There were many interesting questions, some serious, some leading to lots of laughter there was entertainment galore. The company was wonderful and we were all filled with not only food, but food for thought too. Camille’s dad, brother and 2 sisters were at the table, OH and let’s not forget “George the bus driver”. Ryan invited George the bus driver to Thanksgiving dinner. He was alone and it was wonderful to have him join us. Ryan holds a special place in Georges heart, as well as ours.

This is “George the bus driver” Thanks for joining us for dinner George!

View Full Album

Friday…”Black Friday” shopping Mike and Camille spent the night downtown Salt Lake City, got a hotel room so they could get up at 4 and hit the sales! Camille and Mike love the excitement of shopping till you drop! Have you ever heard of a man like that? He certainly didn’t get that from his dad!

That was our time with the “Little Rascals”, we took them bowling and then off to the hills above town to scout for deer. We were lucky! We saw many deer this trip and 6 of which bound over a fence and walked across the road right in front of the car. The kids were very excited to see them!

You will have to click the pics to enlarge. We topped our afternoon outing off with an ice cream cone then home to play and watch some movies. It was a good day.

Saturday evening we took the children to Salt Lake (30 min drive) to see the lights. The annual lighting of Temple Square downtown Salt Lake City is always a HUGE thing. Thousands of visitors come to see this spectacular event. It is so beautiful and amazing, words cannot describe it. So the “Little Rascals” and grown ups bundled up to stay warm and off we went. I wish I had a better camera to capture the beauty of the lights. I could not find a setting to do the lights justice.

This is a pic of a nativity scene in front of the LDS Temple, there is a shallow pond they call the “Reflection pond”. It was amazing.

Every single tree and bush is lit with thousands and thousands of lights. It is hard to take it all in.

Owen enjoyed a birds eye view on top of Camille's sister Kelly who was visiting from Canada.

There was a narration of the birth of Christ and the statues were all life size. It looked so real. I wish I could have captured the awesomeness of the moment.

We went inside the visitors center to get warm and let the children visit this scene…..one of my favorite….

When I worked downtown across the street from the LDS Temple I would often go to the visitors center and sit on a bench right in front of this statue of Christ, the room is so beautiful, peaceful and I would reflect on all of my blessings. It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving for me to do so.

It was a great night, I am so thankful for this little family…

Sunday Camille and her sisters prepared for more guests to arrive at their home. Camille’s younger brother has been called to serve a mission in Hawaii for 2 years and will be leaving on December 11th. Friends and family were invited to say their goodbyes to him. Camille once again outdid herself.

View Full Album

As a joke, because my kids are joksters…this is what greeted anyone having to use the bathroom. YEAH BABY!

And as we said our goodbye to the “Little Rascals”….we headed back to sunny St. George, where the weather was much warmer!

Best Friends…..Ryan and Owen, and a kiss goodbye to our still…Sleeping Beauty!

Until the next time…when we return bearing Christmas Gifts!….

Love you all! Oma and Papa

thank you for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!