A Whistler Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving spent at Whistler.  This year was a little different though.  We ate Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday night and drove up to Whistler on Wednesday (no traffic!) and skied all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Ethan flew in first and the three amigos became four.  It was great!  Marcus arrived a couple days later and then we were complete.  The noise level was back to an all-time high, the sounds of pounding feet up and down the stairs and running throughout the house resumed to their usual constant, and the kitchen was always a mess because someone was always eating.  In other words, chaos reigned supreme and I was in my happy place--the eye of the storm.  Thanksgiving dinner was delicious because I ordered brisket from a local BBQ place.  I think I loved it more than anyone else simply because I didn't have to make it.  The pies were good too, and I did make those.

Ethan arrived and suddenly everyone was happy to hang out together

We even put the tree up before we left.  I was at the top of my game this year!

Packing a family of 7 for a five-day ski trip takes mad skills and luckily Randy has those skills.  Too bad I'm not an influencer because North Face should be sponsoring us.  Randy loves their duffels and we have them in every color and a few different sizes as well.

The snow was terrible but we still had fun.  Whistler Village is always fun after the end of a long ski day.  I always get lost and turned around in the Village but Randy leads the way and can somehow always find the Pizza Place and Rocky Mountain Chocolates.  

Henry wins for most improved

check out the base of the mountain with absolutely no snow to be seen

Marcus finally got a new ski coat.  He's been wearing the same one since 8th grade :)

Strolling through the village was so great without snow

The Village always has new stuff to check out

Parker has grown and ended up with a new set of skis as an early Christmas present

French fries and poutine for lunch!

We had our friends over for pie and games

Avalanche Pizza is sooo good!

Views from my run.  It's beautiful and looks just like home :)

hotel life and boys being boys

Ethan in a wheelchair because of course he tore his ACL on the last run of the last day of our trip.  Poor guy.  It was pretty stressful trying to figure out what to do because surgery in WA would've been convenient over the break but all the therapy and follow-up appointments meant the surgery needed to happen in Utah.  Ethan is on the mend now and the worst is behind him. He picked a good season to miss skiing because there isn't much snow anywhere but at Whistler.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2022

 We had another great Thanksgiving because the Johnson's came.  I'm glad they love WA enough to drive here a couple times a year to see us.  Megan flew in from Rexburg so the only person we were missing was Marcus.  Luckily he got permission to call us on Thanksgiving so it was fun for everyone to get a chance to talk.  It was also nice to talk in the afternoon instead of 7am on a Monday morning while we are all trying to get out the door to work and school.

Lots of watching movies happened, just as it should.

Talking to Marcus

Toby made mountains of potatoes, I made the rest, it was all delicious! My new kitchen was put to the test and it passed with flying colors.  There was room for April and Toby to be in the kitchen with me and everything had a place so by the time we were ready to feast, the kitchen was already clean.  I couldn't stop smiling.  Worth every penny, right Randy?

The spatchcock turkey was delicious this year.  Next year I'm doing a bigger bird now that I know how to make it juicy and flavorful.

The kid table with their mostly-empty plates.  

Pies for days and a new favorite:  Oreo Cream. 

Seven people on the couch and all in a turkey coma

We burned some calories at an indoor trampoline park that was actually really awesome.  Too bad I only took videos and no pictures of the super steep slide with a jump at the end, or Henry going down the zip line.

Baptisms at the temple followed by Chick Fil A and a steak dinner

Flank Steak on the Traeger, in the dark.  It was delicious!

It was a beautiful day for a turkey trot along Lake Sammamish.  

Henry joined in by riding his bike and whining the whole way.

Trophies at the end for all the runners because we are hard core.

The annual Polar Bear Plunge at Pine Lake.  It literally scares me to jump in because it's so painfully cold.  It doesn't take long to warm right up though.  Landon actually jumped in twice because the first time his arm reflexively reached out for the ladder and he didn't completely submerge himself.  I told him that was his body's way of protecting himself but he felt like a failure and jumped in again.

We drove to Downton Bellevue so we could donate at the Giving Machine

We let each kid pick out something to donate towards local/global charities.  These machines do so much good and it's exciting to have one in the Seattle area for the first time.

Thanksgiving 2021

I can't celebrate Christmas if I haven't posted about Thanksgiving on the blog so here we go!  Two days after our quick Utah trip, the Johnson's drove up for Thanksgiving.  I tell people the Johnson's aren't like family.   They're more like friends to us because we choose to hang out together because we have so much fun so there's no obligation.  

April posted much more about our good times on her blog.  I felt like I ran around all day every day with nothing to show for it except for producing large quantities of food.  Anyway, they came and we all hung around having a great time mountain biking, relaxing, hot tubbing, riding the e-bikes, playing games, and eating a lot of food.

The little boys waiting to eat but threatened with their very lives if they touched anything.  So they safely chose to sit in the corner and wait.

Look at their empty plates!  I slave for hours on food my boys don't even like.  Marcus had the nerve to suggest a true feast would be all-you-can-eat at McDonald's.  I have no words.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, even though the gravy didn't turn out.  I smoked my first whole turkey and it was so juicy we didn't know what to think.  It's funny how much effort goes into making a juicy turkey.  We all grew up eating dry turkey doused with plenty of gravy so when I serve something flavorful and tender, we all suspect there must be something wrong with it or that it needs another hour in the oven. The best part about dinner was laughing so hard as we heard Alexa cheerfully announce, "One hundred farts coming your way!"  and then she played one hundred different far sounds, all met with giggles and laughter from the obnoxious little boys table.  

The after-dinner entertainment: Wrestling!

The goal was to get the other person's sock off.  Thankfully Marcus's boot didn't seriously injure anyone.

On a whim we decided to take the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  The Johnson's never leave Sammamish when they come so they got to see a lot more of WA than usual.

card games pass the time nicely

Bold and Cover Your Assets are the recent favorite card games

We discovered Faye Bainbridge Park and it's awesome!

Our last Thanksgiving together.  I am definitely feeling the pangs of separation as each day brings us a day closer to Marcus's graduation, mission, then life.  I'm excited and sad all at the same time.

Henry already knows Uncle Toby = a Good Time.  He watched in awe as Uncle Toby skipped rocks

Some things never change, like Ethan climbing on top of everything!

We had to try out Moira's ice cream shop near the ferry terminal.  It was delicious!  We had no problem eating in the forbidden seating area.  People in WA are still very terrified of Covid, even though most are vaccinated.  

Walking back to the ferry in the rain

The Cuzins watching all the cars drive onto the ferry.  We walked on while Randy and Toby drove with the cars.  It never gets old seeing how many cars can fit on the boat.  

We lucked out.  We were the last of the cars to get on and the first to get off.

Henry ate every M&M from this jar.  It's mounted on a board that allows one candy out at a time and Henry was obsessed with it.  I found him hiding upstairs with it.

We went to the Snowflake Lane Parade in Bellevue.  It wasn't cold but it was windy and one of the floats tipped over.  It was hilarious!

The parade isn't that great but it's good enough and a great way to kick of the Christmas season.

The wind kept blowing her dress up and my boys thought it was hilarious

The kids will tell you it was stupid but don't let them fool you.  They had fun.

We will always remember the time we got totally lost walking aimlessly through parking garages and stairwells trying to beat the crowds at the elevators.  Eventually we ended up back at the elevators to get to our cars.  

We did the polar bear plunge and I have no photos of the event but let me just say that it's painful and a little scary.  I seriously wonder why my heart doesn't stop from the shock of the cold water.  But it's a fun tradition my boys won't ever do unless we are with the Johnson's.