Thanksgiving

We made a last minute decision to go to Washington this year for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun and even though we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to because they had a crazy snow storm come through, we had a really nice visit. We stayed with my dad's sister, which we've never stayed with before and it was really nice. Her house is very cozy and I loved just sitting there all snuggled up with a cup of hot cocoa and watching the snow fall. She lives close to Mt. Spokane so it was so much prettier up there than in town. Everyone was complaining about the snow but I was loving it. It snowed almost the whole time we were there!

I was a little worried about having Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house because she has a lot of dietary issues and can't eat most things that would be at Thanksgiving dinner. I even called my dad ahead of time to make sure that we weren't have a "diet dinner". He assured me we weren't and he was right. It was actually one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I've ever had. Everything was made from scratch, and some of the substitutions she made made the food even better. For example, she can't have sugar so she made the sweet potatoes with pure maple syrup. YUM! I even made them again since I've been home I liked them so much. We didn't make it over to my grandma's because of the snow but I kind of liked being snowed it :)

Henry's birthday was two days after Thanksgiving so on Friday my dad threw a birthday party for him at Chuck E. Cheese. He was so funny. If you get the package then they do this whole thing where Chuck E. will come out and present you with a crown and a medallion and sing to you. There were a few other kids having parties there at the same time so they do the presentation all at once. Henry had the funniest look on his face the whole time and wouldn't participate in any of the songs or dances. Then each birthday kid gets a turn in the Ticket Blaster, which is one of those things you stand in and they turn air on and tickets (they usually use them for money) blow around and you're supposed to try and get as many as you can. They told him if he got scared to knock and they would let him out. I think he misunderstood because he just stood there and then knocked because I think he thought that's what he was supposed to do. He did end up catching some tickets in his crown though. Then they asked who wanted to go in for Henry to earn some tickets. I'm pretty sure they were talking to the adults, but Haylie was so excited and she wanted to go in so they let her. She just stood there too, but she didn't knock. It was the funniest thing because of the look on her face. And then it was even funnier, because, like Henry, she had caught tickets in the crown, but she took it off before they could open the door. My dad got some sort of package and I will say that they are very generous with the tokens there! By the end of the night we were just playing the games that were the quickest just to get rid of them. We all had a great time and the kids still talk about it. Thanks again, Papa Zkeeter!

On Saturday we went to my mom's brother's house for an open house/joint birthday party for Henry and my cousin Josh. My uncle's daughter, Jenni, was also in town with her new baby so we wanted to give the family a chance to see everyone at once. But because of the snow, only the immediate family came! Oh well, we had a very nice visit anyways.

On Sunday we packed up and went to stay at my grandma's for our last night in town. She made turkey noodle soup and it was delicious. I think with all the yummy food we ate I gained about 10 lbs., which is exactly the opposite of what you want to do after having a baby, but oh well. We had a nice visit with Grandma Carol and Papa Jim and then on Monday morning we headed home. We split the drive up, just to be safe, so we stayed Monday night in Butte, and made the rest of the trip on Tuesday. It always feels so good to come home to our own beds and routines after a trip, even though we have so much fun while we're there.