a jackson hole thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  We had so much fun!

We'd been planning this trip for a long time so everyone in my family was able to be there. . . everyone except Wayne.  Due to a flaky co-worker, some mis-communication and the full Thanksgiving holiday flights, he wasn't able to make it.  We missed him a LOT. . . BUT we still had a blast with the family.  Mom, Dad, all my siblings and all their kids were there . . . AND, to add extra frosting to this already delicious cake, my mom's brother, Uncle Chris and his family was also there. . . it was awesome.  

Jackson Hole has been a special place for my family for a long time.  When I was younger we would go visit my Grampa's condo there.  When I was a little older my Grampa built a house there for the whole family to use - it has been such a blessing.  My uncles, aunts and cousins enjoy the house for holidays, honeymoons (that's where we went for ours!), family vacations, ski trips, friends retreats and everything else you could think of.  It's a gorgeous house in a gorgeous location and has been a wonderful tool to bring our extended family together for many years.  I love it.

This year we stayed for a week.  We celebrated Tali's, Aunt Judy's and Uncle Chris's birthday's while we were there.  We played a lot of SkipBo, Yatzee and Phase 10 along with Dance Central and Football on the XBOX.  We sledded and played in the snow a lot.  And the other thing I did a lot of? EATING! That's right - I ate like, all day, every day.  Great for enjoying Thanksgiving, not so great for my diet.  Oh well.  Here's to a healthier week this week.

Here's the pics. . .

The kids went out and played in the snow every day we were there.  They LOVED it.  I'm grateful for good snowsuits.

This was Malia and Kina's first real time sledding - they were fearless!  The driveway leading up to the house is a steep hill and with all the snow it made a perfect sledding track.  There was a bunch of adults at the top to send the kids off and another bunch at the bottom to receive them.  The kids just went up and down the whole morning.  It was a blast.

The best thing about kids playing in the snow is the long, deep naps they take afterward. Yahoo!

Counting everyone, there were 16 kids there last week. Malia, Kina and Tali LOVED having little people to play with all day, every day.  They love their cousins!

On Thanksgiving morning, we participated in the Jackson Hole 5k Turkey Trot.  Many of the daddy's (and a few mommy's) were very generous and offered to stay home with the kids so we could go.  Even though it was sooo cold and I though my nose and fingers were going to freeze off - it was so much fun and I'm so glad we did it. 

My goal for this 5k was to jog the whole time.  I did it!  My ending time was 36.5 minutes.  Still pretty slow, but a definite improvement from my last 5k I ran in 48 minutes.  I'll take it!

For Thanksgiving dinner, Uncle Chris cooked pulled pork in his smoker (which he brought along from home).  It cooked for about 14 hours before we ate it and by the time we got to it, it was juicy, tender and so delicious.  From someone who totally loves the traditional Thanksgiving meal, I gotta say - I didn't miss the turkey one bit.  It was YUMMO!

To add to the fun, my brother Joseph made a little ramp in the backyard for the kids to sled on.  As you can see by Kina and Maddox's faces - they loved it!

. . . Tali not so much. . . ha ha

We had such a wonderful time.  The highlight of the trip for me was spending so much quality time with my family.  I LOVE MY FAMILY!  The food (which I ate waay to much of), the sledding, the games, the people - it all made for a great Thanksgiving.  I'm so grateful to my family for making this trip possible - especially my grampa and my mom and dad - and for everyone else for making the time to go.  It was awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving!

** Though I'm grateful for so many things in my life right now, I just want to mention one on this post. I'm so grateful for my parents, especially my dad.  As we were pulling out of the Jackson Hole house for the airport, my dad was following the car down the driveway to say goodbye.  While he was walking, he slipped on the ice and was knocked unconscious. I was the first person at his side and just kept calling his name over and over again waiting, hoping, PRAYing that he would respond.  He was out for about two minutes, but finally came to and opened his eyes.  I remember sobbing with relief.  Once he was conscious, he kept looking at me with surprise and asking where he was and what had happened.  The ambulance took him to the ER to make sure there was no internal bleeding.  There wasn't - they said he just suffered a concussion.  Not to sound too dramatic, but this experience was extremely traumatic for me.  While he was laying on the ground my dad looked so old to me . . . I really thought he might be dying.  After we left, I kept playing the worse case scenarios in my head and would just cry thinking about it.  But he is okay.  So this Thanksgiving, I feel very grateful.  I'm so sooo grateful my dad is alive and healthy. I'm so grateful he is in my life and is able to be a papa to my kids.  I love him so much. I feel so grateful.