Thanksgiving

I'm a few months behind the holidays and such... but I'm trying to catch up :)  Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun!  The whole family headed to St George to meet up at Geran and Anna's new house for the festivities.  We stayed at my parents house.

On Thanksgiving Day, we got together at Geran and Anna's new home in Little Valley.  Its the cutest home and she was so hospitable to invite the whole family (including her parents and grandma) over to eat dinner, play games, and just get crazy!  The party was pretty much a hit. 

Whenever we get together, the focus is always on the kids.  There are 16 nieces and nephews between Brandts brothers and sisters.  Playing with the kids and watching them have a blast is always the highlight of getting  together.  I'm so excited to have these 16 kids as my new nieces and nephews.

This year the kids drew names and purchased presents for their cousins and did the gift exchange on Thanksgiving since this isn't the "family year" for Christmas.  Next year will be different, but this year was so much fun watching them give each other presents and say something nice about their cousins. 

They were all happy with what they were given.  Lots of nice manners!!  This is Chloe laughing at something funny someone said.

Some wanted to help each other open their gifts.  This is Quinton helping Halle, with Brooklyn and Eva next to her to assist.

 Watching Halle is the best!  She's painfully shy and is always playing with her fingers.  She was giving Dawn her present and daddy (Geran) had to help.  Taylor was front and center to observe :)

Jackson is the youngest of the nieces and nephews.  He's the cutest kid.  He wants to be more grown up than he is, but he does a good job of fitting in with the kids. 

So much fun!

Skyler is such a cute little guy!

Halle is so photogenic!!!

Black Friday after Thanksgiving, we spent the day in the temple as Ryan (Brandts brother) and his wife Niki went to the temple to receive their endowments.  It was such a beautiful day!

  I couldn't think of a better thing to be doing on Black Friday, especially after a day of giving thanks for this wonderful country, all our blessings, and the Savior for the ultimate gift he gave.

After the temple, Anna's parents have a family tradition on black friday to go out on the Arizona strip and shoot guns.  We all tagged along and had so much fun!  It was awesome weather!!!

Hayden taking a shot with the BB gun.  He was afraid to shoot it but finally found the courage.  He loved it.

Donovan taking his turn.

Jeffrey with his leopard beanie taking his turn.

Saturday morning we woke up and wanted to take a little hike in Zion canyon.  Once again the weather was beautiful.  Almost the whole family came.

Brooklyn (in front), Eva, Dawn, Josh, Jeffrey, Taylor, Brickton, Chloe, Hayden, Halle, and Hailey (in front)

Brandt, Jackson, Eva, Halle, Dawn, Brooklyn, Chloe, and Taylor

This was a cool part of the trail.  All the kids absolutely love Brandt!  He's so much fun to be around and likes to make sure everyone  feels included.

I needed to snag at least one picture with my hubby! 

He's going to be the best daddy!

A cool view from where we were.  We hiked up to upper Emerald Pools.

Hayden and Brickton - Best CousinFriends!

Eva loves Taylor!

Another cool view from the pools.

Taylor, Eva, and Halle!  They loved the hike.

Jeffrey with his leopard beanie!  He was having a good time...just needed a rest :)

Another cool view!  The red rocks are pretty sweet too!

Jeffrey being a goof ball.

This was a few days after Thanksgiving, Hailey had a special little Christmas sing-a-long with her second grade class at the school.  She practiced so hard and even some of her songs were in sign language.  She did such a good job and she was so proud!  So cute!