Thanksgiving 2012

I don't take very good Thanksgiving pictures.  But at least I got one of our table and family, minus Mom.  We had our own Thanksgiving dinner this year.  At first we were all a little sad to not be spending the special occasion with family.  Even Dallin was shocked that no one was coming over and that we weren't going anywhere.  But...that didn't stop us from making a BIG feast.  Jeff was able to do the annual Turkey Bowl, football game at the park.  Our weather has been exceptionally warm lately.  Usually he has to bundle pretty warm, but not this year.
 After feasting ourselves, we played some games the kids had set up.  We did a cake walk, except the prize was not cakes, it was just being the Winner!  Then we played, feed the Turkey.  The kids had drawn a turkey on a piece of paper, cut a hole at his mouth.  Then we all placed little pieces of paper inside the hole to feed him.  It was fun to see my children s creativity and to not have any kind of time schedule or plans to follow.  We ended the games with London Bridge.
Then we headed downtown for a bike ride.  We went on a beautiful bike path from one park to another that crosses over the freeway (the kids favorite part).  I was amazed at how warm in was, but glad that we could enjoy the outdoors even in November.  At the end we played at the park for a while. When we were done and ready to head back I realized my tire was totally flat.  Jeff had the chariot hooked to his bike so he said he could ride back and drive over to pick me up.  Jackie decided to go with him and Dallin wanted to stay with me.  Dallin and I walked to a parking lot where he could pick us up and while we waited for them we played hide and go seek.  It almost turned into hide and go seek in the dark (on of our kids all time favorite games).  We had a little garden area we were playing in and it was so much fun.  Dallin had a great time and I was happy to have the time to spend with (tucked inside a bush).  We were all tuckered out when we got home, so we had a movie night and hit the sack.
It was a fun weekend.  We were able to do a lot as a family.  We took the kids out to eat at Tucanos, a Brazilian restaurant, for Jackies birthday.  They sang Happy Birthday to here in Portuguese which was fun.  They all enjoyed the food.  We also went Roller Skating, which turned out to be even funner than I expected.  The rink we went to had these walkers with wheels on the bottom that the little kids could use to steady themselves.  Even Alyssa was able to skate!  I still held on behind her, but she enjoyed doing it her self.  Dallin and Brea were both independent skaters with their aids.  By the end they both could skate without the aid.  They all want to go back.  I don't mind it is good exercise and fun winter activity.
We do wish we could have celebrated Thanksgiving with family.  But we are grateful for our family of six and the fun time we had together.  We are so richly blessed.