We got home last night from a wonderful Thanksgiving break in Mountain Home. Joseph and his family joined us there as well so it was fun to have some of the cousins together.
We drove over to Mtn. Home a week ago on Saturday. We waited a day because Chris had to work a shift at the temple on Friday night. So we got up on Saturday and drove over and we got in a little after lunch. The weather was so gorgeous that the kids immediately went outside to play.
We had a wonderful week with family. We mostly just chilled and the kids played together and lived out of the basement, basically only coming upstairs to eat their meals. It's pretty funny. They absolutely love making their forts with the PVC pipes an sheets. Then they just live out of their forts the whole time.
We kept our tradition of doing "Pie" night on Wednesday and that was fully enjoyed by everyone. But the real news from Wednesday was that Tanner took the driving portion of the driver's test and passed. He's now fully licensed. We are so proud of him!
Of course, Thanksgiving day had the adults up early working on food. It warmed my heart to see my parents making the stuffing and stuffing the turkey together. My Grams use to make the turkey but she always had my dad help her stuff the turkey and she would say "don't overstuff that bird" whenever she felt like my Dad was overfilling it. So this year when I heard him say that to Mom and I, I had to laugh.
I have numerous pictures of my parents prepping and stuffing the thanksgiving turkey over the years and for some reason I really cherish them.
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious as usual and well worth all the hard work. And in true Drake tradition, we went around the table sharing what we are most grateful for as we ate. My Dad said he was most grateful for my Mom and it was the sweetest. Life has definitely been getting harder for the two of them as my Dad's Parkinson's progresses and I'm eternally grateful they have each other.
I was able to do a pretty table setting and everyone really loved it. However some of the kids took their meal outside to eat on the porch because the weather was so incredible.
After dinner the kids played football in honor of Uncle Johnny. Whenever the Allreds come home for Thanksgiving, Uncle Johnny brings flag football supplies and he organizes a game for everyone. Well without his flags, the kids ended up using dishrags, but they didn't seem to mind. Even Chris went out and played with them.
Then yesterday those who wanted to go, went to see "Wicked: For Good" at the theater. Both Tucker and Bailey wanted to go from our kids, then Nanny & Laura joined Chris and I. We were all really excited to see it and although it wasn't as good as the first movie, it was still really good. I loved it.
Besides that outing, we really didn't spend much time outside the house. We did a lot of hanging out and talking. We played some games and mostly just enjoyed being together. It was a great trip.
This time with my parents is feeling more and more precious and I'm feeling the need to get home more often as it gets harder for them to travel. I'm grateful they have plenty of room for all of us to come home and invade them.
I'm super excited to be all together for Christmas. All my siblings are coming home for the week and I can't wait. The cousins just love all being together and I love having my siblings and their spouses around. The older I get the more grateful I am for the wonderful people my siblings married. There is no drama when we are all together. We just all love spending time together and it makes for wonderful holiday visits.
Now we are home and gearing up for all things Christmas. It's going to be a wild and busy month but I'm excited. Only three weeks until we are back in Mtn. Home again with everyone but there will be so much fun until then!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
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