Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week started off with another work trip to Provo. It was nice to see everyone at work one last time this year before the baby comes. It was a great three days spent with co-workers and training new hires. Because of the wonderful timing of the trip, Robert and I thought it would be a perfect time  for us to spend Thanksgiving with my mom. Thus, the decision was made to buy him a ticket to join me out in Utah after work on Wednesday. It was our first trip back to Utah together in a few years! To liven up the party some more, we convinced my brother Jeff to bring his family in for the occasion as well. To kick off the break, I left work on Wednesday, dropped my rental car off at the airport and met my brother Jeff at the airport to pick up Robert and head to Ogden.

The next day:

I spent lots of time in the kitchen helping my Mom prepare a Thanksgiving meal. As tradition would have it, I made Grandma's rolls and ruined the deviled eggs (well, they tasted good - just looked really ugly). I am not a fan of the deviled egg job, especially when the eggs will not peel! 

 While the girls did the cooking, Jeff and Robert raked the yard for mom.

 Brielle enjoyed being outside experiencing the sunshine for the first time since she lives in Seattle and rarely sees bright days like these. 

 Mom was a wonderful Thanksgiving host by keeping the many memories of Thanksgiving dinner in the basement of Grandma and Grandpa's house alive. Craig and his family joined us for dinner as well. Mom also made sure to make my favorite dessert, jello salad (as pictured on the plates). Yummy!  

 Time to eat! 

 Later, Jeff serenaded us with some music.

 The Morris' came over later for some games and dessert. 

Following Thanksgiving day, we woke up leisurely, went shopping at the Quilted Bear, and then piled in our sweet ride (that would be the one on the left) and drove down to Salt Lake for a little night out on the town.  

After a little parking lot maneuvering, we headed up to dinner at the Garden. Jeff and Laura split to meet up with her sister.

 I love the Garden restaurant for its beautiful views and yummy food. We hit it just right because we beat the rush and were able to watch the sunset and lights come on at Temple Square.

Our dinner company:

 After dinner, we headed outside to catch our first feel of Christmas, but not before I got some hot cocoa and a picture by the main tree in the JS Building lobby.

We even walked over to City Creek to see the decorated store fronts.

 I love the lights at Temple Square!

 We met back up with Jeff and Laura.

Sadly, I was really bad at taking pictures this Thanksgiving and didn't take a single one on Saturday.

Saturday consisted of: driving to Provo with Jeff and Laura, Robert playing golf, dinner with friends (insert awesome picture of Robert, JoAnna, Kaydee, Devin and little man Carson enjoying a fabulous dinner at Red Robin), meeting back up with Jeff and Laura at the BYU creamery before heading back to Ogden.

Our last day in Ogden was spent relaxing with mom and the Tolsma side. We headed to my Grandma Tolsma's house for pizza and catching up. Again, I was a terrible picture taker and did not get a single picture of the family that gathered, but I did spot this modern day John Wayne:

Amy's always willing to let people ride her horse.

 This ol' gal and I had to sit out on all the fun because of our "condition." We look like twinners, right? What, you can't tell? That's flattering, but we are both pregnant in this photo. :)

 In other news, we had our baby. JUST KIDDING! We're just being the awesome aunt and uncle we are and rocking little Brielle to sleep. 

 We flew home on the red eye that very night. Red eye flights do not usually bother me too much, but I must say getting comfortable enough to sleep was a lot harder being pregnant! It was a wonderful week spent in Utah and we're glad we were able to be there during this time to see my Grandpa Whitehead before his passing.