this year we spent thanksgiving in utah! it was so fun and as always, i'm still exhausted. david and i landed a late thirty wednesday night and andie, brenty and ambie were sweethearts and picked us up some cafe rio to eat on the way to springville. things i've learned: old cafe rio is just as gross as you think, it's really hard to eat in the middle seat of a dark car and it definitely makes your car stinky when you have to run to walmart at midnight for ruby red squirt (david) and last minute thanksgiving groceries.
anyways, we finally got to andie and brent's little place for our sleepover. thanks for giving up your bed! i was up for hours and finally decided that 9am was late enough to let everyone else sleep in. brent was giving me dagger eyes (i guess he's not a fan of cheetah pajamas?) we went to cracker barrel for a real thanksgiving breakfast. brent didn't want to eat anything since we were having dinner like 12 hours later... surprise surprise--he ordered like 4 breakfasts. things we learned: never get the grits at cracker barrel.
so gross... but hey, who's going to judge you at cracker barrel?
so what if i wanted pie for breakfast? i'm not sure how the waitress talked me in to ordering an entire pie. i didn't hate it.
then everyone got dressed, packed up lots of groceries and headed to the cabin in sundance. we took some portraits while andie was slaving away on some delish side-dishes. (so proud! she's become so domestic)
ambie
brent's new linked-in profile pic
this guy was loving the lighter
so were the rest of the boyz
tyler and mom finally made it after brent drove down to meet mom at the base of the mountain and have her follow him back. despite the tricky parking situation the cabin was awesome and everyone loved it!
we get it... you're tall.
see?
back to the kitchen for salad assembly, sweet potato casserole that no one could get enough of and some ill-fated green bean bundles.
okay, so the recipe was from ourbestbites... i didn't think that 15-20 minutes in the oven would be enough to crisp up that bacon... luckily roxanne had a griddler andie could use to finish them off.
semi-homemade... when's cocktail time?
addie cakes looking adorable at the kids table. she made her own place setting with her picture on it so no one could take her seat. the food was great, everyone had lots of fun. i can't believe i didn't get any pics. i think gary took a cute one of steph, laura and i but i doubt that's ever making the internet!
after pie with the whole brassfield clan (or everyone that made it to utah for the holiday) we headed back to the cabin for games and fun! we found a gas station that was open late on thanksgiving and stocked up on candies, sodas and water--the essentials. i have no idea how the 14 year old girl cashier got stuck with that shift, but we were grateful they were open.
tyler showing off the welcome basket
ambie and tyler playing some concentration games
laura and korty playing a memory game
okay, this picture needs some explanation... so we were teaching tyler how to play texas hold'em and he was doing pretty well... until he decided to go all-in on this hand. poor kid thought he won with a double straight! hahaha! we had to explain to him that a double straight is only a cribbage hand and doesn't fly in actual poker. we all re-divvied up our make-shift chips (starbursts and altoids) and played forever!
the next morning was rough!
the next morning was rough!
we all felt like this
we decided we would avoid the really crazy black friday shoppers by going over to the riverwoods for a little kneaders breakfast and shopping.
kneaders cuties
after breakfast and some shopping we went over to the surf place to get some blue bell icecream, watch the boys do the ropes course and play some arcade games.
peppermint... yum-o
tyler was a little shaky, but loved it.
dorks
there was a little shop that had gingerbread houses and so we made amber pose by the soel house
and addie and korty posed by one of the more colorful ones
what could you want after icecream? candy!!
and learning how to share a big bubble gum
we couldn't get enough surf time!
i'm not sure who held the basketball record? i'm pretty sure it was david 1.
another scoop to go
tyler always gets a waffle cone!
these girls have the best dad who picked out all the best prizes for them!! no wonder they were so proud.
then it was time for lunch at cafe rio... no one needed it, but what else do you do for fun?!
then we all headed back to the cabin for some games with the girls and a new game that laura picked up while we were shopping.
addie learned how to play go fish and grandma and addie totally won!
the new game was way intense! you had to move fast! lots of fun, i can't remember what it was called.
since we were in the mountains a few of us took a nature hike to check out the wild turkeys that were all over the property.
addie was a little scared of the turkeys, grandma had to hold onto her shoulder and take a pic at the same time... talented!
they also found the only patch of snow around... hahaha!
much better than the ones in front of the cabin
claimed he wasn't asleep!
let's face it... thanksgiving is less about thanksgiving than it is about amber's birthday. mom had the birthday picture duties and this was the best that we got:
like, you get it though.
only family picture we got:
mom, you could totally use this for your christmas card!
the next morning was spencer and rebecca's wedding in idaho. i wish i could have gone, but i my feet and ankles were so swollen i didn't think i would be able to handle the drive. no one wanted to get fully dressed at 5:30am so there were some quick changes in the car.
waiting for the couple to come out of the temple/ hitting on the single ladiez
mom and carol being cute
the preshanselhelms back together again!
the wedding favors were playing cards!! love it!
i spent the day doing a little laundry, black friday shopping online and keeping my feet elevated. nikki and her family came up to the cabin to visit and got to go on a hike with david. after they left david and i went down to the foundry grill for lunch and a little walk around the property. afterwards we headed up to salt lake city to meet up with jan and her girls, uncle greg and co and jenna for a little shopping at the city center. we mostly checked out iphone baby monitors and ipad cases. cami showed us all of her windows and displays at nordstrom. i have never seen so many people at a mall... like, i know the fountain was designed by the same guy that did the bellagio one... but like, i don't get it!
mom and the kids met us in salt lake on their way back from idaho falls. since mom is always making everyone else's dreams come true, we threw her a bone and headed to temple square to see the temple lights. it must have been opening night because it was packed! the lights are so beautiful... i forgot how fun it is.
these guys really hate pictures
after the temple lights and stop at nordstrom for some make-up essentials we headed back to sundance and to bed. it was finally our last day in utah and we enjoyed the always fabulous sundance brunch.
these guys found some snow!
there was nothing else to do for the next 6 hours while we waited for our flights... so we headed over to riverwoods to enjoy a completely empty shopping center.
i bet david is going to be sad he wouldn't take this one...
tyler nailed it.
after the movie we headed over to amber's apartment and watched some really weird reality show about black friday for an hour or so, said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. we turned in the rental and headed to cafe rio for one last salad... (i'm pretty sure i got my fill, i know my mom did (she hates rio and loves chipotle). tyler and david could not get enough queso.
monday was miserable, but i'll recover. can't wait until christmas!!
