Tappana Times: Texas and Thanksgiving

Almost nothing is more exciting to me in Washington than a snowstorm.

Some winters go by with absolutely NO snow, so when flurries hit I celebrate and enjoy every flake for what it is.

This year we were surprised with a small snowfall in November. Kendrick wasn't too sure about the snow and came back in quickly, but Lydia and Ammon had a blast.

There's something just so magical about snow falling from the sky.

Kendrick and I spent our days together as the others were at work and school.

If only I still thought walking on the treadmill is as fun as Kendrick does. He loves to just hold my hand and walk and walk.

We also took a bike ride on a "clear" day when it stopped raining for a minute.

The week before Thanksgiving, we were able to go on a family vacation to Fort Worth, Texas to visit Brigham's brother and family.

The four-hour airplane ride was long (more for some of us than others), but we made it and the time we spent playing with cousins, hanging out as family, and taking a break was worth it!

We visited Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum where Tim and Brigham measured up next to the world's tallest man, and the kids explored anything and everything together.

Another section of the museum presented creepy wax figures, that mostly did NOT look like who they were supposed to.

Though, the super-hero section was probably a favorite amongst our group.

We spent another of our days exploring the Stockyards and checking out the longhorn cattle.

Twice a day, longhorn cattle are driven down the street and you can line up to watch.

I expected this dramatic, crowded, brawling rush of cattle sweeping through the streets with cowboys calling and yelling on their horses to keep the cattle under control. Which is why I was somewhat underwhelmed with the ten-or-so cattle that calmly followed the lead.

Don't get me wrong, it was still pretty neat to see those long horns sitting on the cows' heads as they walked by, but I was just expecting a different picture so the excitement was a bit anticlimactic for me.

A cheap little petting zoo thrilled the kids with an Asian antelope, a lama, and a porcupine included amongst the typical goats and sheep.

No, you could not pet the porcupine. It was randomly caged in the middle where no one could reach its quills.

Some of the kids were starting to lose it and so we ended our morning at the stockyards, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and would definitely go back to check out some of the shops and barbeque joints.

The cows weren't quite enough to fill our animal fix, so we spent another day exploring the Fort Worth Zoo together.

My favorite was the white tiger. We spent so long exploring the zoo together that we were kicked out at closing time.

Something I didn't get nearly enough pictures of was our kids playing together. Lydia and Emmy and Jack and Ammon. They played and played and played...and then played some more. No fighting or tiring of each other surprised all of the adults and there were so many tears shed when it was time to leave. I love this picture of Emery and Lydia watching the sea otters together because it shows some of the friendship they shared.

Other activities that I didn't get pictures of include going on a date - just the adults - to eat some authentic Texas barbeque and to a movie. We were able to see the hospital where Tim works, we had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner together, and many late nights staying up talking and playing games.

We had such a wonderful time and it was so nice to see some loved ones that we had missed for quite awhile. I even met my niece, Penny, for the first time! Hopefully, it won't be so long before we can get together again.

As we returned from Texas, it was time for Thanksgiving with my family back in Washington.

We started out Thanksgiving morning in my favorite way: the turkey bowl! The kids were excited to come out with us and play this year. It poured almost the entire two hours we played football, but that's just what you expect in Washington and we got wet, ran around, and had the best time. Kendrick and Ammon ended up mostly just jumping from puddle to puddle, and Lydia surprised us all by joining in on the kid's football game. It makes my heart sing to have my family join me in one of my favorite activities!

Soaking wet

Of course, we had a giant, delicious feast later that day.

I tried out a new fancy pine-cone looking cheeseball.

It was pretty delicious, though many of us thought there were too many almonds.

Each year we like to do a craft on Thanksgiving that we then give out as Christmas gifts and this year we helped the kids make colored soaps with little creatures in them.

The process ended up a little more complicated than we thought, but we got the hang of it and the end product turned out really cute!

The kids also made a gingerbread turkey with Aunt Sandy and consequently spread sprinkles all over the floor and house that we still talk about.

Thanksgiving naptime hit and my dad didn't even realize we snatched the remote right out of his hand.

We kept the tradition of setting up the Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend and I loved watching Lydia and Ammon as they placed each ornament just so, in what design they thought made our tree more beautiful than ever.

And you know what, it is.