Thanksgiving Break 2012

Jesse and I were going to spend Thanksgiving in Texas with his dad, but Janet passed away two days before we were going to go, and there was no way we were going to miss her funeral. We canceled our tickets and stayed. My family, who was going to go to Georgia, also canceled their tickets. Karrissa and her family flew in on Sunday. Having my cute nieces and nephew here to play with made it hard to want to go to school those last couple of days, but it was worth it. 

 His new scowl...

Thanksgiving morning Jesse and I went on an early morning run in the canyon. Jesse is trying to make it a tradition :) He ran up 6 miles and I ran 6 back down with him. It was freezing but it felt SO good. I am so grateful Jesse and I are able to go out and do things like that together. 

Janet's funeral was the day before Thanksgiving, which I thought would make our dinner together sad and mournful. It was quite the opposite. Everyone was so grateful and happy to be together as a family. We were able to share memories about Janet, talk about her, and be okay with everything. Our dinner was delicious, we laughed and told stories together, and it was great. We all saw Lincoln together, which was a treat. I may or may not have been asleep for more than half of it, but most everyone else enjoyed it! :) 

 I ate a lot of mashed potatoes and gravy… it's fine. 

 I love these beautiful ladies! 

 I'm so glad my sister was here for the holiday! 

My family thought it would be fun to take all the kids to Classic Skating! This gave the Rife family some much needed time out to dinner as adults. We seriously had so much fun! The kids loved it, the adults loved it, it was all around a great time. Lots of laughing, dancing, singing, and falling on our bums happened. 

 Did I mention we fell a few times? 

 Plus, I got a work out from trying to hold those boys up the whole time! Win, win. 

There is no way my sister could come home and not go shopping and out to eat with me and mom! The mall and Noodles treated us well  :)

I might be obsessed with how cute Grey's face is! 

One night all the siblings went to Comedy Sports together! It was so much fun! We are quite the fun bunch  :) And, yes, this is the worst picture of all of us. I am a giant, everyone looks dirty and unhappy. 

My parents did SOO much for us and the Rife family during the break that us kids thought it would be nice to take them out to dinner! Jesse's brother is the manager there and was so sweet to get us the back room all to ourselves! I'm so grateful for my mom and dad, they are truly incredible. 

It was an emotional, fun, relaxing, break from school. I have so many things to be grateful for! My family, the gospel, my education, my husband, my body, my job… I could go on and on. :)