Thanksgiving Report

(I'm still trying to get caught up on everything. I hope to never time-zone hop like this anytime soon.)

We spent Thanksgiving week at my parents' house in Utah. I can't say enough about how awesome Rhett did on the planes and with the time change. He was perfect. Many people around us on the plane didn't even know there was a toddler in a row near them; he was that good. And he slept in beyond our wildest dreams--no 4 a.m. wake-up calls! It made me confident that we could do it again in June for a family reunion. Here's hoping!

We arrived in Utah before my sister; this gave Rhett and us some time alone with his Utah grandparents. One day we wandered around Park City.

Given that my parents live "out there," we spent a lot of time in cars. Here Rhett is multi-tasking so his inbox isn't too full when we return to Maryland.

One day we were able to spend time with my dear friend, Angie, and her two sweet girls. We went to Wheeler Farm and watched the kids enjoy the animals. Rhett LOVED the pigs and was the only kid throwing a fit when we had to leave them.

On Thanksgiving morning, Emily, Chuck, and I ran a 5K race (or slightly greater than a 5K) in Park City. It was hosted by a ward there and didn't have t-shirts so I made our own. The shirts have our names on back. I had forgotten this when running and was surprised when a fellow runner on the course cheered, "Go erin and emily!" Fun times. Freezer paper stenciling is my new favorite thing.

The Thanksgiving meal was awesome. I started a new plan of attack: eat only what I want to eat. So that means no turkey. I just don't like it. Why eat it and take up valuable stomach space that could be filled by sweet potatoes? I won't do it. We had dinner at my parents' house and some aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us. What you see here is Jonas wearing a woman's wig and his face when I tell him to give a "nice, woman face." This kid is a character.

After dinner we posed all four cousins. Rhett just started making the infamous "face." It's part smile and part "I'm not going to do what you want me to."

And on the day we left, we had some professional family pictures taken as the entire Jim and Dixie family was there. We're a pretty good looking group.