Thankful Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we switched it up and moved the feast to Wednesday night and Thursday drove down  to St. George. Let me tell you...I was thankful.

The feast was all that a Thanksgiving dinner should be with all the traditional and a few non-traditional items on board. I was in charge of pies this year, which having never made pies before, made me a bit nervous. I made two chocolate cream that ended up being big hits, and two lemon meringue, which were a bit runny but still tasted good. Thankfully at the last minute my cousin took over the pumpkin so I only ended up making four pies. I will give out the recipes if you want them but let me just warn you, for the four pies I made, I used two dozen eggs. They are once a year recipes, for sure!

Then it was off to St. George for the balmy 30s -40s. One of the many, many things I love about visiting St. George is that we are always able to find new and beautiful places to visit while we are there. Thursday afternoon we hiked Johnson's Arch in Snow Canyon. The arch is off limits most of the year because of nesting turtles, birds, animals, but well worth a visit when the trail is open. It is perfect for a four-year-old hiker, her crazy uncles, and the rest of her entourage. Abbie spent the way up running ahead with Uncle Britton and hiding and scaring the rest of us, and the way back on her Aunt Erica's shoulders.  (I really need to give props to my awesome siblings who provided almost non-stop entertainment for my kids....so I didn't have to.) Savannah rode the whole way in, giving her plenty of rock climbing energy once we reached the end of the slot canyon. She took Grandma and Britton up to the top of a very high rock pile and kept telling her to be careful and have fun.

Black Friday was spent shopping by some, golfing by others, and napping by me. Russ and I did make a quick Best Buy run but sadly nothing came of it. :(. 

Saturday we went on another stereotypical family hike. We hiked the Cinder Cone trail at Snow Canyon. It is a short but steep hike up an ancient volcano to wonderful view of the canyon. The weather was freezing. My dad kept commenting on how much fun we were having and how beautiful the senery would be when we reached the top. (He was right.) Blaine adding rocks to Russ's kid pack so he is carrying more weight. Britton kept teasing Erica and helping Abbie. Erica kept saying that is would be better if we had gotten massages. Very standard.

Thankfully we left Saturday night after watching the Utes reign victorious (not that they played that great....) and avoid the massive snow storm that is plaguing us today. I am truly grateful for my family. I have wonderful parents that I greatly admire. My siblings all hang together come what may. And my husband and girls give me endless joy. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.