Every year for Thanksgiving we switch back and forth between grandparents. This year was the Sill's year, but instead we went away with just our little family to spend some much needed time together. Garrett's mom was so good about us not being with all the family on Thanksgiving, I think she remembers what it was like to be married to the bishop of the ward and for that I'm thankful.Monday we heard a huge storm was coming through and we would be lucky to get out on Wednesday, the day we had planned to leave, so we prepared to be ready to leave and it turned out that the storm came fast and hard and then was gone, so we took off early Wednesday morning while the sun was shining. Garrett had reserved a cabin in Duschesne, close to Falcon's Ledge and it was awesome! The cabin sat on probably 1000 acres of land, with a master bedroom and another with a queen and bunk beds...perfect for our family. We loved hanging out in the loft, playing pictionary, we loved watching Wyatt and Colt giggle as they would slide down the circular staircase on blankets, the girls and I loved painting, always part of the mix is the kids playing games on dad's iphone, we also enjoyed watching football and movies and shooting guns. Colter was anxious for dad to teach him how to tie flies for fly fishing and Garrett was excited that Colt was excited to tie his own flies. Garrett got his own fly tying kit when he was about 12 and has already picked out fly tying kits for both the boys for Christmas.
Before heading up to the cabin Garrett cooked our Thanksgiving turkey in his new cooker which took him only 45 minutes and it was the best turkey we've had. I made stuffing, candied yams, rainbow jello, rolls and even packed away some pies for our own Thanksgiving feast at the cabin.
We had a memorable time walking the frozen river and sliding on the ice. We laughed at how McKenna was a little more cautious than Colt and Ashlyn about walking on the frozen river but finally did it and laughed even harder when Ashyn, who is fearless, fell through the ice with her boot crashed into the water in the river.
Friday night we drove into Vernal and ate at Pizza Hut and then drove home Saturday night. We finished two books on tape so the kids could AR on them when they got back to school. Such a great and needed trip. One thing Garrett and I did notice at night after the kids had gone to bed was how quiet it got...it seems the kids are entering a stage where there's more bugging each other and more bothering each other than we've ever had. We think it's just the ages the kids are at: we've got a diva with some control issues, a soon-to-be-diva who thinks life is a party, a tease and a pesky little brother...we laughed as we thought about each of their personalities and how a lot of the time this weekend all we said was 'please get off your sister, please don't bother him, please leave him alone, please leave her alone...just don't touch each other!!" Funny to think back on our weekend...it was great!
