Thanksgiving

We arrived home last night after being gone for 4 days to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. Daughter #3 is attending the University of Utah, and we wanted to be able to spend some time with her during the holiday. Daughter #1 drove in from Phoenix, so we could at least be with 3 of our 5 children.
Elizabeth and Aubrey

We were invited to stay in the home of my wonderful girlfriend Ruth. She has a large family of 6 children, many who came from out of town also, but they included us and many others in their beautiful home.
Thanksgiving morning started out with a "breakfast feast". We wondered if we were supposed to stretch our stomachs to get ready for dinner.

One nice thing about being part of their family is everyone helps with the food preparations. (Although Ruth as the mom seemed to do the most)

We spent the morning playing games and visiting.
Ruth's husband Craig and Mr. Cactus played Laser chess. Paul and their son Russell are the same age and have been good friends.

Russell and Monica's daughter Aubri

Our children grew up together, but some of them haven't seen each other in several years. With moving to other states, marriages and babies, there was a lot of catching up to do.
Aubrey loved holding Monica's baby Navy while visiting with Sarah who is expecting #1.

My children are always so happy to be able see each other again. Paul grew up having a lot of attention from his siblings. Now it's pretty lonely for him to be the only one left at home, while the others live away in different states and cities going to school or working. Can I just add that if Paul as the youngest is a little spoiled it's not all my fault. My girls have doted on him from the day he was born. Aubrey was 12 when he was born and considered him "hers". Elizabeth used to run home from school everyday and conduct the "Paul Fun School". She was the one who taught him how to write his name and tie his shoes.

I brought the ingredients for all of Ruth's grandchildren to make "Cookie Turkeys"


Ruth's daughter Aleena and silly Aria

Around noon, while the turkey was cooking we all went to see the movie "Twilight".

We had quite a crowd, packing us all into the theatre. The men were good sports about attending a chick flick instead of an action movie. OK, we did hear a few groans, but they were "nice groans".

Once we got home everyone got to work fixing their food assignments. Jeff made the most wonderful gravy. Elizabeth said it was her favorite "flavor" out of everything.

Ruthie working away.

There were around 30 of us for the Thanksgiving feast. Ruth had enough food to feed an army.

yum, yum, yum!

Kent and Paul headed back to St. George on Friday morning, but I stayed to spend a few days with Elizabeth and Aubrey. We needed some mom/daughter time.

We went to see the "BodyWorlds" exhibit in downtown Salt Lake City.

The only word I can think of is "WOW"! This exhibit is like a high tech anatomy class.

Some find it squeamish because the bodies are of real people preserved with a tissue preservation technique called "plastination". I found it to be an extremely fascinating learning experience.

The exhibit in Salt Lake was called "Body Worlds 3, Story of the Heart", and mainly highlighted the cardiovascular system.

Another fun thing about coming into town is connecting with friends we don't see often enough. We went to lunch with Jamie

Before heading back to St. George yesterday, we went to a baby shower for Ruth's daughter Sarah. Sarah and her husband now live in Colorado, and baby #1 is due in January.

Sarah is in the middle.

April and Aleena (Sarah's sisters) help with food preparation. Yes, more food. I don't think any of us want to eat again for a week.

Judi and Ruth.

Judi came to the baby shower too. We all love to grab baby Navy to give her kisses. We think Ruth looks like a blond Sarah Palin when she puts her hair up and wears her glasses.

Thank you Ruth and Craig for hosting all of us and letting us share Thanksgiving in your beautiful home. You make us feel like family.