Thanksgiving 2014

I know this is ultra late. In fact, the next few posts are all going to be things that I should have written about forever ago. But! Better late than never, right?

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Idaho to visit my sister Wendy and her family. We don't get to see them very often and they would be going to Africa for Christmas. So, if we wanted to see them sometime this year, Thanksgiving seemed the perfect time. Bit by bit the "guest list' of visitors to Idaho began to grow and we got even more excited, realizing this was going to be a pretty large fiesta at the Ellison farm/petting zoo!

The visitors included Dallas and I, my parents, Stratty and Lynnsi and the Hadfield family. We all arrived at different times, but once we got there, we filled our days with all sorts of fun activities! Dallas and I got there late Tuesday night and went and watched Guardians of the Galaxy with Stratty and Lynnsi while the little kids stayed at the house with all the parents and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Lucky for me, the kids were already pretty tired - Myria
and Alaina during scripture study before bedtime.

The next morning (Wednesday) my parents, Wendy and Jason and some of the older kids went to the Boise temple while Dallas and I watched the younger kids. Becky and her family arrived around lunch time and we felt the party had really started because now everybody was there! That afternoon we went biking at a super fun bike park. I was almost eight months pregnant, so I didn't bike. Instead I chased Zachy and Eli on their bikes while everyone else tried out the jumps and raced each other. Dallas loved it! I knew he would and was super glad we got to go so he could experience this great place. Afterward we went to Wendy's church building and played games in the gym - dodgeball, chair soccer, etc. I took the kids home early and got them all to bed so that the adults could stay up and play games. Yahoo! That doesn't happen very often :)

Briana, Varden, Dallas, Alaina, and Myria playing "Silent Night"

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Dallas and Jason played tennis in the morning. I know both of them had been looking forward to this for a while. A few kids tagged along and played in nearby courts. Meanwhile, the rest of us worked on food. Actually...I didn't do any cooking. But! I did go do some last minute grocery shopping with my Dad, Stratty, and Lynnsi. Sometime in the afternoon we all headed to Wendy's stake center and set up for our Thanksgiving feast. It was super yummy! Afterward we piled into cars and visited an old folk's home to play some music. I was impressed how many people had something to play! Dallas played "Silent Night" with my nieces and brother-in-law, Varden. He also played a song he still had memorized and did a super job! Together, he and I performed "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" - Dallas playing the ukelele and both of us singing. I enjoyed doing this with Dallas - I love that he is up for (and capable of) performing for others.

You can see that Becky had been working pretty hard on this Thanksgiving.
Apparently, Wes and Alicia had also been working pretty hard...or maybe it was playing :)

Jeremy getting ready to perform and Popsy Flopsy sporting his Thanksgiving hat :)

Stratty and Lynnsi right after performing "Holy Night" - great job!

I'd had a video...but it didn't turn out. Dallas was pretty great -
he would skip and hop as he tried to get the horse going. :)

On Friday we spent a lot of time outside with the horses. Dallas has never been much of a horse guy, but he was a good sport and listened carefully as Wendy taught him how to be an expert horse rider. Before Wendy had Dallas get on the horse, she first had him establish "authority" with the horse. He was super cute as he worked to get his horse to listen to and follow his lead. We also got to watch Zachy ride his pony and go over jumps. Zachy was especially funny. Since I wasn't riding, he figured I could be his apprentice. He showed me how to catch the pony and clean his hooves and brush him and get the saddle ready and everything else.

Wendy teaching Dallas riding skills

Dallas says the only problem is Wendy forgot to tell him how to make his horse stop :)

Zachy instructing me on proper cleaning of his pony's hooves

Zachy leading his pony to the area where they would jump

Before long, it was time to go. Mom, dad, and Becky and her family left Saturday morning. Dallas and I left sometime in the afternoon with Stratty and Lynnsi. We prolonged our visit just long enough for me to get to see my dear friend Kimberlee and her family and also just long enough for Dallas, Jason, and Stratty to get to play some lengthy board game. I know they loved it and I loved getting to visit with my friend.