Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to stay in and have a nice peaceful dinner just the four of us.

This is the first time that Brandon and I did our own cooking for Thanksgiving, but since there were just the four of us, and I'm not a big fan of Turkey, and the kids just aren't fans of meat in general, we got a rotisserie chicken since there's a lot more I can do with the leftovers. (We enjoyed some amazing white chicken chili later in the week:)

A few days before Thanksgiving we had some fun with the kids and taught them about the very first Thanksgiving. We made a Mayflower boat out of half of a painted milk carton. I didn't get a picture of it but it turned out pretty neat. They enjoyed "sailing" it in the ocean (bath). The pilgrims (princess dolls) were on their way to Plymouth Rock (their bedroom) where they met the Indians (some dark skinned barbies). I think they learned a few things. Then for Thanksgiving dinner we made some Pilgrim hat place settings (which we never got around to painting the tops black) and turkey ring napkin holders. Kaleb didn't really care about all of that. He just wanted some food. We had a really nice meal and we enjoyed each other very much. Brayden sang a song for us that she had learned about being grateful to the Lord for the many things he has given us. After dinner we wrote down what we were grateful for on our "grateful garland" Some of the things included: Our home, Thanksgiving, our health, clothes, food, windows, seeds, sun, pumpkin pie, the Holy Ghost, Heavenly Father, teeth, toys, Jesus, books, and Halloween. You can probably tell some of the ones that were Brayden's. Afterwards we went over to some friend's for dessert. Within the matter of an hour the temperature went from 80 degrees in our house (since we turned the air off) to about 35 degrees outside (the wind was fierce.) We were outside playing some boccie ball as the temperature kept dropping. I'm glad I grabbed some jackets on the way out (that neither of us thought we would need). I didn't get many pictures of the kids but Kaleb learned how to drive this car above and here Brayden is singing for everybody her latest song, "Tomorrow," from "The Little Orphan Annie." She sings this song all the time. The day after Thanksgiving we had planned to venture out with some friends for our very first camping experience with the kids. It's something our friends normally do this time of year out here, and we decided to go with them this year. All week long we were enjoying 75-80 degree weather until Thanksgiving night when the cold front moved in. The next day didn't get any better. It turned out to be one of the coldest, and just happened to be the night we planned to go camping. We stuck to the plan and came prepared... ...or so we thought. Brayden loved all the trees she could climb.

She and Brandon along with the other kids made a neat fort. I didn't get any pictures of it. Once I get the pictures from my friend I'll update this post.

Along with climbing trees and playing in the woods, Brayden and the other kids went on a lot of deer hunts. There were a lot of deer out and about.

We had a nice fire in the evening and it was a life saver once the temperatures dropped with the sun going down. We kept warm with some hot chocolate too...but as soon as we left that fire and tried to put the kids to sleep, it was a nightmare. Kaleb eventually got warm and cozy cause we brought his pack n play and he did pretty well. We finally got Brayden to sleep but she was up not even an hour later and was done! She refused to endure any more of the cold.

When the forecast said it was going to be 25 degrees, I don't think we really knew what 25 degrees felt like. We thought we could do it, but why suffer like that when there's a hotel down the road?

We decided we were done torturing our poor children.

Once we got to the hotel everything was much better.

We met up with everyone else the next morning. Every single one of them said they were either crying during the night or on the verge. Nobody could blame Brayden.

It was one long night for them.

Next time we do this it's not going to be in November!

Yet, even after this experience Brayden is still singing...

"The sun'll come out, tomorrow..."

Too bad she was unable to sing it to all of us the night we were all freezing : )