Thanksgiving 2012 Festivities

This was our first Thanksgiving to be home and to host. Mark's brother came from D.C. and his sister came from Knoxville with her family. It was lots of fun and again, the girls loved the extra company and attention. We were glad to spend it with family! Unfortunately, we were having so much fun we forgot to take many pictures.

Uncle Thomas, the jungle gym.

Watching the Macey's Day Parade. The favorite float was Ninja Turtles (Adriana's new favorite). 

And of course, more people around to read more books!

Jamie having fun with the play kitchen.

So my first time doing a turkey, we decided to brine it. Delicious! Luckily Annie was here to help me with all of her cooking expertise.

 The eating of the dinner!

Jamie giving hugs.

 For some reason after dinner, the girls found their swimsuits and decided to model them.

Yummy pie!

 Tying daddy up in the jump rope.

A trip to the Midwest

The week before Thanksgiving we drove up to Iowa to see Sarah's parents before they left on their mission. It was the first long car trip we had taken in quite awhile, but the girls did great. We had some fun stops along the way to break up the driving. The girls did a great job staying enthusiastic and keeping entertained. After spending a few days in Iowa we went to Missouri to see Mark's parents and a brother. It was fun to see so much family and let the girls get to spend some quality time with both sets of grandparents.

Abigail showing off her ballet shoes

We stopped at the St. Louis temple and the girls had fun pretending that the lights were big computers.

Enjoying a pizza night in the hotel.

Lots of fun in the car!

We stopped in Hannibal, MO and visited Mark Twain's house.

We also spent a few hours in Nauvoo, IL where we got married.  Amazing how our family has changed since.

The girls enjoyed doing some pioneer things like making a rope.

The crowd that had gathered for our newest missionaries.

Fun cousin time!

Then on to Missouri to see the Tanners

 The girls love, love, love books and wore out just about everyone by convincing them to read a plethora of stories. They got some great classics that Mark grew up with!

On our trip nap time didn't always happen. Consequently one evening as Mark was reading to them...

 ...both Elena and Abigail fell asleep.

 It looked like too much fun not to join in.

They had fun playing around on the piano. Mark and Roy even tuned a few strings!

 The weather was great and we had some great fun in the backyard.

Building a fire with grandpa.

All the new toys were also a hit. It was fun to remember playing with the original Little People when we were smaller.

These girls share the love of ice cream, just like Grandpa Tanner.

After all the fun we headed home for our next celebration, Thanksgiving!