Thanksgiving break started out a bit crazy. The kids were all out of school that Monday but I still had to teach my dance classes. Avy and Rylee were with their Grandparents in Nyssa and Ryker went to work with Kefford so that he could get his braces adjusted. Kenedy was still sleeping when I left but I left her cleaning instructions and a list of chores she had to get done. I taught four classes and by the time I got done with my last class my voice was shot. I had been feeling not too terrible Sunday and Monday morning but by the end of the day I was done and feeling pretty sick. My voice went bye bye and I had to resort to whispering for the next three days. We were planning on going to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with Emily and her family, Andrew and Erin who had flown up from California. On Monday Erin sent me a text letting me know that Emily was having really bad Kidney stone problems and that she a Drs appt that afternoon to decide if she was going to have to have surgery. I told them to give me a call when they knew what was going on. When Emily called later she said that she was going to have surgery Wednesday morning but she still wanted us to come. She said that she has had this done before and she will be fine having us all there and we would not be in the way. She could tell by my lack of voice that I was sick and said that was even OK. She still wanted us to come. Sounded good to me!
Tuesday afternoon I got a text from Erin saying Ben fell and had to have stitches in his eyebrow. At this point I felt like we were all cursed and was wondering what was going to happen next.
We got to Utah late Tuesday night and it was so good to see my family and be able to visit and hang out.
The kids were excited to hang out in the hot tub and though us adults thought they were crazy, they loved it!
Emily's apartment it not too spacious so we had to get creative with the seating arrangements. We were able to have a kids table and an adult table. I believe everyone enjoyed that arrangement.
Rylee found some time to attack Avynlea and I loved hearing their squeals and giggles
After dinner we decided that since for the most part the adults did the dinner, that the kids should do the clean up. Surprisingly there was not any complaining and they all chipped in to get the jobs done. Kenedy went the extra mile and was last in the kitchen cleaning up to make sure nothing was missed.
We decided to take off Saturday afternoon to get an early start on getting home. But before we left the girls went to visit Emily's classroom so we could add some festive flair. I was dying to do something fun with her door and we found a really cute gingerbread house idea. As I was working on it I kept getting calls from Kefford asking me when I was going to be done and telling me that I needed to hurry up. I felt rushed and looking back at it I wish I wasn't rushed because I don't think it's my best job and there was so much more I would have done. Avynlea did a great job being my little helper and I also had Kenedy make the candy canes for me. we cut out the canes in white and then I had her add the red stripe with some red ribbon. She did a great job and worked really hard on those candy canes. I was planning on putting them on the door in the shape of a heart but when she was done I realized I forgot to tell her to do the stripes on opposite sides. Oh well, we made do and I really appreciated her helpfulness. The next week Emily had her kids decorate gingerbread men so that they could add those to the door. Such cute ideas!
It snowed that morning which was one of the reasons for Keffords anxiousness to get going. Before we left I made sure to get a picture with my sisters. It was such a good trip and I am glad that everything worked out so that we could be with my family.
Erin, Elizabeth and Emily
As we were heading out to hit the road I had the kids make themselves some sandwiches to eat. I got creative with my road food and enjoyed my meal immensely!
We decided to drive to Nyssa to spend some time with Keffords family that night. They had pizza waiting for us and it was quite nice to spend some one on one time with his parents.
We stayed the night and went to church with them the next morning.
What a great week of fun we had!