Thanksgiving Delights!

So I am just going to be honest with you, the text of this post really sucks. I've had it as a draft for a couple months now and worked on it whenever I could squeeze in a few minutes. I really wanted to capture the awesomeness of our Thanksgiving Break for our family history's sake, but  this is a really shoddy job. I can't even remember the details of our vacation anymore since it's been so long! Oh well! It really was a delightful trip, though! I just need to post this Frankenstein mess and get on with things!


Saturday 11/19

Returned from 5-year "honeymoon" trip to Los Poblanos Inn. Mom and dad watched Hudson while I finished my Thanksgiving shopping. When I got home, Noah and Laura were knocking on our door! They helped me put groceries away, and then we went on a walk through one of the acequias. It was beautiful outside and the mountains were glowing pink! When we came home, we had Green Chile Chicken and Rice Casserole.

Sunday 11/20

We had a yummy pancake and bacon breakfast and went to church. Seb and the others went home after Sacrament Meeting, but I had to stay to take the primary roll and teach singing time. When I got home, we all went to the park on Rio Grande. Hudson fell asleep, but Esther had a great time on the playground. I really bonded with her and had fun making her laugh. Seb and Noah had a great time playing basketball. While we were at the park, Sethrina arrived! We had a fun evening together eating feta chicken salads and homemade bread. I think we watched Harry Potter 7 that night.

Fun at the Rio Grande Park

Monday 11/21

Sadly, Sebastian had to go to work all day while I got to play with his family! We had a yummy breakfast casserole in the morning, and then ambushed Seb at work to check out his office. We ended up spending most of the day at the zoo. Hudson was asleep most of the time, but Esther was LOVING every moment of it! All of the animals were out and active. My favorite part of our zoo trip was feeding the ducks and watching Esther roll around on the floor. She is so funny. After hanging at the zoo, we went to Dion's for a late lunch/early dinner. I think we played Bezzerwizzer in the evening and probably watched more Harry Potter! I think we tried watching a HP movie every night, but we all fell asleep every time!

Tuesday 11/22

On Tuesday, I had planned for us to hike at Petroglyph National Monument - bad idea! We had never gone before, and it was one of the ugliest, saddest national monuments I have ever been to! I pulled the plug on this idea right away and we went to the Botanical Gardens instead. It was SO much fun! My favorite part was playing in the leaves with Hudson and Esther. The gardens were so pretty in the fall. my mom and dad had us over that night for a delicious dinner and games!

Hudson LOVES his auntie!

Wednesday 11/23

We went to story time at the balloon museum. Afterwards, we had lunch at Seb's favorite restaurant in town, El Pinto. That night, we stayed up late making pies and preparing for Thanksgiving!

Fun at the balloon museum

Esther loving the balloons

Sooooo much salsa!

Thursday 11/24

While the boys went to a turkey bowl, the ladies cooked Thanksgiving dinner! It was my first time making Thanksgiving dinner, so I was happy to have my sister-in-laws there to help, who are super talented in the kitchen! We made such a wonderful meal! We did run into a few snafus, though. I was using a recipe that didn't call for putting it in a bag, but we put the turkey in a bag anyways. It was done cooking two hours early! We had to rush to finish everything else. I was pulling the sweet potatoes out of the oven to put the marshmallows on top, and I accidentally dumped the entire bag of marshmallows into the hot oven! They immediately melted and then lit on fire! The smoke detector went off every few minutes and the kitchen smelled more like campfire than Thanksgiving. It was pretty hilarious!

After dinner, Seb and Noah tackled the kitchen and it was more spotless than it has ever been! Thank you!!! Laura and I took the babies a fun cousin bath. Then, we all went on a walk in one of the ditches near our home and even pet a horse. So fun!

Disaster in the kitchen!

Our feast

Way too much pie for five adults

Yum yum!

Just woke up!

Awesome kitchen cleaning duo!

Cute cousins (Hudson is so fashionable!)

Walking near our home

Friday 11/25

Park. Aquarium. Park. Dairy Queen. Goodbyes to Noah and Laura. Luckily, Sethrina stayed for two more nights so we could enjoy her even more! I am so glad she stayed longer! I love having her around!

Good lookin' bunch