Thanksgiving in CA

We decided to drive out to CA for Thanksgiving this year since we hadn't been in awhile.  It was a great trip.  We ended up leaving around 5:45 pm Tuesday night when we found out we wouldn't have to work on Wednesday like we thought.  That ended up perfect because we beat the storm that was rolling in to Idaho and we really didn't have it bad at all over Donner.  It was a gorgeous drive with the snow falling at night.  I lasted until we got over the mountains and then I slept a little bit.  Joe was a champ and made it the whole way.  We had fun listening to some Dr. Seuss and Winnie the Pooh on CD.  We made it around 2:15am.

We had a relaxing Wednesday taking turns napping and doing some shopping for some nice clothes for the girls and new tennis shoes for Nate since we had forgotten them (they needed them anyway, luckily).  I also made my first berry pie that night while my Dad made his delicious apple pies.

Thursday was the big day.  We went to the country club again and it was delicious, as always.  We are always quite the spectacle there with our big crew:

The kids do pretty well, though, and don't usually embarrass us too bad. :)

I don't know that this guy ate anything:

We finally caved and gave him the phone for a bit (hence the selfie).

These two cuties loved the pink lemonade so much they even got their own pitcher:

I love this shot Chris got of Mom and Dad:

We had a pretty relaxing day on Friday.  The kids played in the hot tub one day and the girls even jumped in the pool!  It was freezing.  Saturday was a big day with the BYU game, Dante's for dinner and then a visit from Santa.  Kari came over, too, and it was so fun catching up with her.  

Here are the Santa pictures:

Santa would copy him and suck his thumb but Eli would push it out of his mouth.

He asked for a green lightsaber.

Apparently Nate asked for a puppy, an accordion, and a Yoda (this super-expensive new toy he's seen at Target).  Hmmmm....

Natalie asked for a puppy (the kids were conspiring) and a motor-scooter.

Gone are the years of inexpensive wishes, I guess.

Elizabeth asked for violin lessons and a puppy.

I also got this shot from the night:

Eli's the youngest and doesn't mind being the baby sometimes. :)

It was great to be a part of the Santa fun again.

Sunday morning we were up fairly early and back on the road.  The drive home wasn't quite as pleasant (two different diaper blowouts by Eli) but we made it in one piece.  We finished listening to The Hiding Place and I loved it.  That book is so inspiring.

It was a great trip!