#9 in '07--day 1

Thanksgiving in the oasis of NV

For Thanksgiving we took our ninth road trip of '07--a twelve hour drive to Big J's hometown to spend the holiday with his family. We all had such a good time there--thanks for hosting us Dad and Mom!! This was the first Thanksgiving we've spent up there since getting married over eight years ago! All of Big J's siblings, as well as most of his aunts, uncles, and cousins (and all their spouses and kids too!) were in town for the holiday so it we got to LOTS of family--it was absolutely wonderful!

Thanksgiving morning, Big J, his dad, two of his brother's, and a sister-in-law all ran in a Turkey Trot. Big J had only trained for and planned to run the 2 mile race, but at the last minute decided to run the 10k with one his brother's and our sister-in-law. Considering this was the first race he's run in five years and that he hadn't trained for the distance he ran, he did really well and came in right behind his brother D! They all had a great time and are looking forward to making the running of the Turkey Trot a family tradition.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Gma S's house where she hosted about 50 people for a delicious feast! Big J and I were having such a good time visiting with family and enjoying all the yummy food, we didn't get any pictures of the large crowd--oops!

I don't know that our boys actually ate much of the feast because they were so busy having a blast playing with all the cousins and riding the quads with Great Uncle D, Uncle D, Aunt M, and Uncle B--thank you all for sharing your big boy toys!

We ended this beautiful day back at Dad and Mom's house with all of Big J's siblings, where we all watched a Christmas classic--Miracle on 34th Street--and snacked on yummy veggies.

After the movie, the kids held an impromptu piano recital in Dad and Mom's living room. Big J and M played a couple Christmas duets they'd been working on.

Aunt C and Uncle N each played classical pieces as well as some Christmas favorites.

Not wanting to be left out, when everyone else was done Lil' J climbed up on the bench and played us a jingle of his own creation.

Tune in again soon for further detailed descriptions of days 2 and 3 of our roadtrip #9!