We are Thankful!!

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year! We are so thankful for so many things! We are thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ, for a warm home, Andy's good job, 5 beautiful children, our health and strength, wonderful family and friends, food to eat, clothes to wear, vehicles that work right, the gospel and the scriptures, temples, and so many more things. We are so thankful to live in this beautiful part of the country and get to enjoy the beautiful mountains and surroundings. Our children beg to spend Thanksgiving at the cabin. It is so relaxing and fun to enjoy the mountains in the winter. This year we had a great excuse to be there as Andy had an any elk hunting tag for the area by the cabin. The kids were on countdown for months! They couldn't wait to go to the cabin, especially Megan. Justin had the same tag as Andy, so my parents and Darcee, Justin, and Derrick joined us for Thanksgiving at the cabin. It was so nice and relaxing and unstressful!! The weather was beautiful! The only thing that would have made it better was if the snow had been packed more. It was a little too soft for sledding, but the kids enjoyed me dragging them around on the sled. (You will notice I don't have any pics of Aaron. He enjoyed just vegging inside playing gamecube or DS or watching tv or playing with actions figures with Derrick. We were on vacation, so I didn't push it with him.)



Mom and I made a simple but delicious Thanksgiving meal. Andy, Justin, and Darcee left early Thanksgiving morning to go hunting. When they weren't back for Thanksgiving dinner, we assumed they had shot something or were following them. My parents and Derrick and my children and I enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner together. Later that afternoon my dad and I went to see if we could find the mighty hunters. We found the truck and hiked a little but never found them. Shortly after we returned to the cabin, the mighty hunters returned too. Both Andy and Justin had shot small spikes but Justin's was one tought elk and got away. They tracked it for a long way but could never find it. The three of them took turns packing out part of Andy's elk. They then enjoyed some Thanksgiving dinner and just relaxed the rest of the evening. My parents took all the kids home with them that night, and the four of us went back and packed out the rest of the elk the next morning. It was fun to be with Andy doing something he enjoys doing. It was a nice hike and not really that cold. We will sure enjoy the meat! I feel bad Justin's got away, but he and Darcee were sure good sports about helping get Andy's elk taken care of. I don't think they will be putting in for that tag again though. They learned it is one tough place to hunt.

Ashlee loves the cabin!!

Fun in the snow!

Relaxing with Aunt Darcee after a fun day!

The might hunter Daddy sharpening his knives in preparation to go back and get he rest of his elk.

Snow angels are so much fun!

Gotta love a snowball fight!

Revenge!!

It was too cold for Ashlee to be outside, so she found her own fun inside!

After we returned home, we enjoyed seeing our siblings that had come home for Thanksgiving. All of my siblings were home, so the kids enjoyed some fun but too short cousin play time. We were able to celebrate Derrick's 9th birthday together and also celebrated Grandma Joyce's 80th birthday! We packed a lot of partying in in a few days!!

Ssshhhh!! Don't tell Grammy I was on the table!! (But it was so much fun!)

She couldn't get mad at me, could she?

Andy's brothers, Tom and Dan, were also home for Thanksgiving with their families. The kids were able to enjoy fun cousin time with them too. There was a lot of drawing, rough housing, computer playing, pan banging, and plenty of laughter. Cousins are so much fun!!

Ashlee and Soren (born only a few weeks apart)