So once again we failed to even take our camera out of the suitcase. But thanks to my sister Shelley we were able to capture a group photo right before we sat down to eat our Thanksgiving feast. My aunt Teri (my mom's younger sister) and her boys B.J. & Dallas joined us along with their half-sister Kiana. The food was great and the company even better.

We left AZ Tuesday afternoon and went halfway. We stopped in St. George and visited Bud's friends Danny and Raquel Heckaman and stayed the night with them. Wednesday we made the rest of the trip and arrived at my parent's home in the late afternoon. Thursday Bud slept in and I went to the gym with my parents and then it was a day full of cooking and eating yummy food. Friday I went for a run outside to continue training for the Ragnar. It was cold, there were hills and the wind was blowing. I went about 3.5 miles and figured that I probably got pretty close to "race weather" and survived. That afternoon Bud and I went to visit my aunt and uncle Jack and Kelly and their kids. That night Jack and Kelly treated all of the adults to a night out at Madeline's Stake House while their kids watch all of the little kids. It was fun to relax and get to visit.

At Madeline's

Saturday we went to lunch with an old friend of mine (Rhandi) that I used to work with when I taugh preschool at KinderCare. Her son was in my kindergarten class and her daughter Rachel used to sneak over and join us even though she was only 3. It was really fun to catch up and see how much her daughter has grown. That afternoon we all got dolled up and headed out to Wheeler Farm for family pictures. It was really cold but I think we got a few good ones. I will post some as soon as Shelley does. That night my cousin's came and watch the little kids downstairs and the adults had a special family home evening prepared by my dad about patriarchal blessings. We each went around and shared one way that our blessing and helped us in our lives. It was a really special and spiritual evening and it was so great to hear everyone bear their testimonies of the gospel. Sunday morning we packed up and headed down to SLC to hear Music & the Spoken Word at the Tabernacle. It was so nice and I got to see my good friend Steve who sings in the choir. We headed out of town about 10:30 am and had a pretty uneventful trip home other than seeing the car in front of us hit a dear in Cedar Canyon. Fortunately the driver was ok even though there was damage to the front of the car. Unfortunately I don't think the deer faired the same. Not sure why those guys insist on darting in front of cars! It was a great trip and we're excited to be home for only three weeks and then we're off for a week to CA for Christmas!! Hope you all had a great weekend.