On our way to Utah for Thanksgiving, we were able to take a day in Albuquerque to be with our friends, the Kims, as they were sealed together for all eternity in the temple. We woke up early to get to Albuquerque by 11:00am making sure we had all of our luggage for Thanksgiving too. We knew we weren't going to make it in time for the endowment session, but Seki asked us to stay in the temple's waiting room with the kids and bring them into the sealing room when it was time. We took lots of pictures after the sealing and I grabbed my family to get one of us in front of the Albuquerque temple.
There were about five families that had all met up in Albuquerque to be with them for their special day. We took pictures all together after the sealing and then went to a restaurant to celebrate. It was so fun to all be together. The crazy part of the day was while we were all taking pictures afterwards at the temple, I was walking over to find Taryn and Tyler who had been in the distribution center when Taryn ran up to me and said they had run into Wendi Craig (Cummings). It took me a little bit to realize who they were talking about, but apparently Wendi who I grew up with in Wichita Falls was also in the distribution center and she saw Taryn walk by and asked if she was related to Allyson Black. Tyler found them shortly after and put the pieces together and came out to find me. It was so fun to meet up with Wendi and meet her family. They live in Washington state and were on their way to Wichita Falls for Thanksgiving and just happened to be stopping at the temple grounds for a lunch break. Our families were so close growing up and we've all stayed in touch through Facebook but being able to visit in person even for a few minutes was really fun. We had to get a picture to send to our moms.
After lunch, we continued our drive up to Utah. We stayed in Moab and then drove the last couple hours the following morning. We got to Vernal before the other kids and families arrived so we had the majority of that day by ourselves with Grandma and Grandpa. We took a trek to go see Duchess on their property. Abby took a turn with the chore of hauling some hay over the fence for Duchess to eat.
Once all of the kids starting arriving, our kids were happy. They love getting to hang out with their cousins and finding things to do together. They took turns coming up with creative ways to entertain themselves like this dance session that Anna put on with all of the kids who wanted to participate. They stretched and exercised before learning some fun dance and cheer moves. Taryn and Lucy always love hanging out together playing their own games. I always like to try and catch them during their play sessions because they always look like they're having so much fun.
Abby and the older kids love to do photoshoots. Sometimes Aubrey is left out because she's not quite old enough for the teenagers to include her, but she's too old to be doing what the littles are doing. The cousins closest to her in age are boys, so she doesn't always want to hang out with them either. After we took a trip to see Duchess, we came back to Grandma's house and found the teenagers just back from their photo shoot. Aubrey was a little sad feeling that she had been left out, so Abby grabbed her for the impromptu last-minute photos. I loved this one of Abby and Aubrey together. I was very happy Aubrey smiled for the picture and that she also let Abby pull her into the group photo with the big blowup Turkey on Grandma's front lawn.
The morning after Thanksgiving, we had a scheduled session at the Vernal temple for the kids to do baptisms. They were happy to go serve in the House of the Lord and I was happy to go and watch. It wasn't as rushed as the last time we went over the summer, so the experience was a better one for me. The kids were all able to do names from their own family trees and we were able to get a quick picture after we were done.
While we were at the temple with the older kids, the littles had full reign of the house including the donut bar. I took this picture as they enjoyed their donuts before we headed up the mountain to search for Christmas trees.
Driving up the mountain to look for Christmas trees isn't my favorite part since we don't pick a tree, but this year we had a lot of fun with Grandpa's four wheeler and side by side. The kids all took turns getting rides and even driving. I had so much fun this time taking pictures of everyone in the four wheelers that the time just flew by as the other adults searched for their perfect trees. Grandpa even let me take a turn driving the side by side, so Aubrey, Jacob, and I went exploring on the dirt paths until we came across this huge ice patch. I was too scared to try driving over it, but we did stop and let the kids skate around it for awhile.
Here we are in the side by side as we drove all around. I have never driven a four wheeler or side by side before and it was pretty fun. I didn't know how adventurous to be while driving, so I probably drove way slower and more cautious than any of the other drivers, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They were just happy to head out for the ride and go anywhere.
After my turn in the driver's seat, I hung out by the food and hot chocolate and took pictures as everyone else took their turns with Tyler and Grandpa. Even the younger kids took a turn driving since we were deep in the mountain in the middle of nowhere. Tyler was the main driver for the four wheeler and Grandpa rode shotgun for the side by side. The littles kept switching off riding in the back as each driver took their turn. Aubrey did pretty good for her first time driving a vehicle. She loved being able to take the wheel and Grandpa said she did pretty good.
Abby was an experienced driver and did awesome in the side by side. It didn't take her long to get used to the four wheeler either and she took Tyler on a long drive on that one.
Tessa had fun taking her turn driving too. Grandpa also said she did a great job although I think he did have to tell her to slow down a couple of times because she was getting so heavy footed. I took a few single photos while the kids waited for their turns and I loved how this picture of Tessa turned out. She's in her bright Houston race hat and you can see her beautiful blue eyes with her adorable braids. I just loved it so much!
I couldn't get the girls to sit still long enough to take a lot of individual shots, but I did get them all to sit together for this quick sister shot. Taryn was a little sad after someone said something mean to her, but she toughened up long enough to kind of smile for my picture. I loved on her a long time after that. I really liked the pictures with the greenery behind them. It was beautiful on the mountain. As we waited for the final adults to drag their trees to the cars, the kids had to find things to keep them entertained. Aubrey decided to try climbing a tree and when she yelled for me to look, it took me awhile to find her at the top of the tree. I told her to be careful and then grabbed my phone so I could get a picture of her before she climbed down. Aubrey had a much better day when we were on the mountain. She decided our trip to Utah wasn't going to be that bad.
We did our traditional grandkid craft. Tiffany got all of the supplies for the kids to make a Christmas ornament. It was one of those art projects where you use nails and colored string to make a design. The kids picked their shape and then hammered in the nails and looped around the string. They turned out really cute. We loved being able to just hang out with family. Tara's family ended up with Covid so they didn't get to come out to Vernal. We missed them a lot, but FaceTimed with them multiple times throughout the weekend. We were happy to be able to be there together and spend that time with our family.
We took a quick picture on our last day of all of the grandkids while we packed up our stuff to get ready to head home. It was a fun weekend; cold but not too snowy, so I thought the weather was perfect. We loved getting to spend the time with Grandma and Grandpa and all of the cousins. All of the families left Saturday evening, so we had our last night alone with Grandma and Grandpa. We played games, watched football and just relaxed while visiting. We love our family and had a great Thanksgiving.
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