Thanksgiving

We were very blessed this last Thanksgiving to have most of my family come into town to experience an Arizona winter that included 80 degree weather, swimming, hiking, and lots of playing in the outdoors!  As my siblings and I started preparing for dinner we realized that none of us had ever cooked a Thanksgiving dinner.  I am happy to report that we figured it all out and it turned out to be a wonderful dinner. 

We kept busy and did our best to wear the kids out everyday.  Leah loved having a house full of cousins and the adults loved the fact that the weather was nice enough that the kids could play outside most of the day! Here are some pictures of things we did to pass the time.

Amber and Peyton chilling in the Hammock

Biking with Angie

Breaking the wishbone

The kids wanted their picture with a cactus!

Kamree and Maddy

Hiking

We sat around the fire while the kids performed a skit they created

Of course Thanksgiving with my family would not be a real Thanksgiving without a little "Black Friday Shopping!"  The fun started at 10:00 PM (on thursday) at the outlets and ended around 3:00 AM after going to Wal-Mart (twice), Target, and Kohls.

My mom, Angie and Amber at the Outlets

Great Times

The last few weeks have been full of fun and adventure!

We went to MacDonald's Ranch with our friend Marti and were surprised at how much there was to do there.  Leah wanted to ride the horses over and over.  She only whined for a few minutes after leaving the horses until we made it to the petting zoo, then she was all smiles again.

Ready to ride on the horse

She would have ridden the horses all day

Trying to find her way through the maze

Travis is such a cute cowboy!

Our friend Marti and me

It took Leah a little while before she would pet the animals

So many to choose from

The perfect pumpkin

We were able to go to Utah for my family's annual Halloween party at the condo.  We have not been able to attend this event for many years and were happy to be able to be there this year.  We are so blessed to be able to live close enough to family to be able to pack up the car and drive to visit them.  We had such a fun time visiting both of our families and allowing Leah time to play with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

 

Travis and I did not dress up for Halloween this year, but that will not happen again!  I dressed up for a "girls only zombie party" that was one of the best girls nights I have been to.  Leah loved dressing up for Halloween as a princess and really enjoyed trick-or-treating.  She is one tough girl and was not scared of anyone or any of the decorations or "haunted places."  We love Halloween in Phoenix, the weather is great and instead of knocking on doors people sit in their driveways, socialize and hand out candy.  

 

To top it off, here are a few random pictures from the month:

Leah doing P90X with me

Lunch with her buddies

Leah at a firetruck birthday party