November Gratitude: Finale

I have about 2 1/2 more hours to post my final November Gratitude. And because I'm feeling lazy, I'm doing it bullet-style. Here we go!

• We went to St. George, Utah for Thanksgiving to spend time with Shane's grandparents. It was such a good trip. We had a great hotel with a pool, a bunch of family to eat our yummy dinner with, and plenty of family time. Who knew that vacation meant you didn't have to worry about the laundry??? Oh, I guess all of you who regularly vacation. We are novices, apparently. It was fun being vacationers.
Ben and Thomas are excited to go.
See how excited my husband gets at pictures and leaving town?



• We spent a lot of time on Friday at Shane's grandparents house. His grandpa is a big talker, and we heard some awesome stories about him in World War II and his childhood that shouldn't be lost. We don't see them very often, so when we do, it is a big treat for all of us. I love having grandparents again.
This is a picture from 1955 of his grandparents. They are the ones in the light coats. I wish the picture was better, but it's a picture of a picture.
Here we are with Grandma & Grandpa. Grandma fell a few weeks ago and broke her elbow, poor lady.


• The highlight of the weekend was when we went swimming at our hotel the night we checked in. It was 9:30 at night, and the pool was outdoors. My kids had such a blast doing something so out of the ordinary. We played back and forth between the hot tub and pool, getting alternately warm and cold. All was well til Ben drank the hot tub water and ended up with a yucky stomach for the rest of the trip. How to teach them that we are bathing in it, not drinking it???!!!!
• I missed my family a lot. But I felt like I had them with me a little in that I brought our thanksgiving crescent roll dough down with us, which I made up on Thanksgiving morning. There are a few tastes in this world that embody holidays for me, and for Thanksgiving, I have to have crescent rolls and green bean casserole.
• Usually when I make Thanksgiving treats, I'm alone in my kitchen with my boys and husband off playing. It was fun to be at Shane's aunt's condo, rolling out the dough while his aunt started the turkey and his cousin put together a casserole. It is that part that I miss every year, the tradition of cooking with loved ones.
• I talked to my mom on Thanksgiving night. She was on her way to one of my sisters' houses for dessert with my dad. She put my dad on speaker phone and I talked to him for a few minutes. The only thing he could really say clearly to me was "I love you." It was enough, and yet so not enough. Where did he go?
• My mother-in-law drove down with us. It was fun visiting with her in the car about the family, and making such fun memories with her.
• I couldn't sleep the last night of the trip, so I got up and went to Old Navy at 6:15 by myself. I missed the huge rush of people, which was fine by me. I visited a few stores, and as I came out of one of them, I saw the sun rising through the clouds above the beautiful sandstone bluffs of St. George. I love the desert, and will never forget that moment of beauty.

It was a memorable year. I am so grateful that Grandma Mary was able to have her family together again for a special holiday. She was glowing with happiness, which made the whole trip worth it.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.