Giving Thanks 2015

leading up to Thanksgiving:

talks of gratitude

lessons on the pilgrims and indians

gratitude trees, etc.

Jaden was so excited for the day of his Thanksgiving feast to arrive.

The cafeteria was filled with little pilgrims, indians and gobbling turkeys.

I wasn't surprised at all to find Jaden chose to be a little Indian boy (just like he did a couple years ago in preschool).  He says they are tough and brave, and I have to agree:)

You'll find him behind the turkeys on the right

His head is sticking out just a bit behind the pilgrim boys on the left:)

a few pieces of festive artwork that beautified our home:)

We made the trek north to be with family again this year.  This time we split the drive up over two days and stayed a night in Flagstaff.  Totally made a difference!  The drive went great:)

a bit of AZ beauty

and after a long time without... we saw snow! :)

so good to be reunited with these Moon sibs of mine

(not pictured: Christine and Nate)

the cousins have so so so much fun when they're together!

While Marianne and I were at Keith's house with the kiddos, Cody and Scott stayed back at the Moon Folk's house with the babies.  The East wind really picked up, and so they thought it'd be cool to ride the wind.  So that they did.  It blew them right on down the street!  Quite entertaining I must say:)

It was fun with just my sister and I (and our families) at the house.
Some things never change!  Although I believe it looked much worse in the high school days:)

Thanksgiving day we headed up to our old stomping grounds in Cache Valley, Utah.
Oh how we love those snowy mountains of Utah Sate!

My sister, Christine (and Cliffton), were fabulous hosts for our Thanksgiving holiday.

Marianne & Scott

Andrew

cousins (Jaden, Logan, Jordynn, Madsen, Mailey, Parker)

McCoy, Evie, Austin, Asa, Brielle (not pictured: Preston)

ane here he is;)

us

the grandkid line-up

sometimes that turkey knocks you out before you can even leave the table!;)

The following day, Marianne's kiddos (with the help of Uncle Andrew) surprised us with a mini-Christmas hunt for my kids to find their gifts!  It was so super cute, and they LOVED it!

Later that morning, Marianne and I got in the mood to do some redecorating!  We rearranged my parent's front room and upstairs family rooms exchanging furniture from downstairs too!  It was quite the task, but we had a lot of fun (although the boys may not agree;).

we moved this guy twice, so we had to photograph where all the figurines stood

later that day, we made our way downtown to enjoy all the festive sights

yummy dinner at this Italian place

and the lights on Temple Square of course!

wouldn't be complete without a game night over hot cocoa and tim-tam-slams!

The next morning we cleaned house and said our goodbyes to the Denney fam.

We made a stop at my sweet grandmother's place on our way to Wyoming.  This remarkable lady is 90 years old and we just adore her in every way:)

and a quick lunch at our classic Cutler's ;)

Meanwhile at the Cutler house, Grammie Cutler started the beloved Christmas theme tradition among the Cutler grankiddos (something she is passing down from Grandma Chirstensen).  

Each grandchild is spotlighted and given a theme to be recognized throughout the years at Christmas time.  It's such a great way to make each grandchild feel loved and special:)

Each were read a book and given a gift to represent their theme.

Max: train

Landon: reindeer

Brielle: angel

In between themes, grandkids dispersed to do little stations including crafts, baking, etc.

Bryson & Quinn: Snowman and Teddy Bear

Jaden: Santa

Then it was on to the airport to welcome our dearest Tayliann home from her 18-month mission in Billings, MT.  We were beside ourselves with excitement!

lots of anxious waiting around:)

here she comes!

so sweet to have this girl home!  we missed you like crazy!

Sunday morning family pictures to capture the moment

these sweeties were so done... grandkid pics are the best!

Loved hearing Tayli report on her mission.  What an example she has been to us all!

a little time in the snow before it was time to take off

snow is a rare commodity these days whilst in AZ, so the kids were totally digging it!:)

then it was time to say our goodbyes and head back home

Although we had planned to stay the night in Provo, we decided to just keep plugging through while the kids were doing well.  They slept most the night, and so we just drove right on through and arrived the next morning for Jaden to head off to school!  It was a bit crazy and completely exhausting, but nice to just get it out of the way:)

We love spending time with family, especially around the holidays!:)