Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to Me

We had such a fun Thanksgiving. This year we had dinner with the Allred family. There was a small group of us, but the food was great and I loved the holiday atmosphere. I must say my favorite memory of this Thanksgiving will be the way Ellie just loved her dinner. I don't know if she was extra hungry or just excited for the holiday, but she totally went to town. She loved the turkey and (of course) the mashed potatoes and gravy. It was so cute. After dinner we played Ticket to Ride, which is one of the only games I can get Eric to play. He's great at strategy games and has never lost this one. I'd love to beat him sometime! Later in the evening we visited the Cooks. Grandma and Grandpa Mecham and Val were there. They just love the grand kids, so it was a fun visit. Ellie had a good time decorating a gingerbread house with Catherine and Missy. My mom has made a great tradition for our family. Each year at Thanksgiving she and my dad give each family a Christmas book to start out the holidays. We look forward to it every year.

The boys on their 1st Thanksgiving

Our new Christmas book

A bunch of turkeys

Ellie helping Catherine and Missy with their gingerbread house

My birthday happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year. Instead of pie, Mike and Hope brought this amazing ice cream cake. Wow! A Weight Watchers nightmare, but totally worth it! Eric and I celebrated my birthday last weekend. Eric had this great idea to take me on a date to Salt Lake and get a hotel room so I could enjoy a night of uninterrupted sleep. It was awesome! We went to Tepanaki, which is one of my favorite restaurants. Then we walked from our hotel (the Hilton) to the Gateway and shopped a little, and then saw the new James Bond movie. We came home Sunday afternoon. I missed my sweet kids so much, but it was great to get away for the weekend!