Thanksgiving Vacation

I know it's been some time since I posted. But we've been busy. We decided to go to Arizona this Thanksgiving because Greg's extended family would almost all be there(We missed you Gardners). Greg's mom, Debbie, was going early to a wedding so she invited Luke and I to come a little early so she could have more quality time with her only grand baby.

Luke and I flew out on Wednesday the 18th. Luke was very good on the plane. We left the house at 7am and arrived in AZ at 11(12 central) He gorged himself on milk drinking almost 24 oz on the trip. I was afraid that he would spit some of that up, or scream or have a blow out. But he didn't do any of that. Debbie and Grandpa Darger picked us up at the airport.

I saw Stefani and her twins on Wednesday, Alison and her twins on Thursday and we went to New Moon Friday sans babies. I liked the movie and the company. Thanks to Debbie and Donnie who watched the kids.

Each morning at Grandma and Grandpa Darger's house there was a morning walk, breakfast and then a crossword puzzle. Sometimes I went on the walk. Sometimes I made breakfast so it would be ready when Debbie, Luke and Grandpa Darger got back. (And snuck in a shower while my baby was gone.)

Donnie and Natalie came over and played games with us. We also got to see Annie, Toni, and Jamie within the first few days.

Friday night Greg flew down after work. I was so glad to see him. He must have been so lonely without his wife and child.

Luke and I were put in the master bedroom. That first night I got like no sleep. I remembered why Greg and I had kicked Luke into his own room. He is a very loud sleeper. He tosses, turns and grunts all night! I knew that my vacation would be miserable if I had to deal with that each night. So the 2nd night Luke slept in the walk in closet. I could only hear him when he cried, thank goodness.

Debbie had a ton of fun with Luke, holding him as often as was possible. He loved being held all the time.
Saturday night we went to Alison and Mike's to play games. We played games until after Mike fell asleep on his living room floor.

We went to church and had fun sitting with family. Sunday night we ate dinner and played games at Donnie's.

Monday we watched movies at Grandma and Grandpa Darger's house and played games.

Tuesday I was able to take Luke and go see my friend Chelsea Pace and her two boys. There was a slight error in my finding the right park. But it was so fun to see them. I'm glad that our vacations in AZ overlapped.

We also went to Stefani and Brett's house to play games and watch "UP". We ended up playing "Wits and Wagers" which we had just given them for Christmas. We told them to open it early so we could play it.

Wednesday I made toffee, pumpkin squares and pumpkin roll with my helpers at Donnie's house. The pumpkin roll didn't turn out at 100% but everything else did. My mom tells me that I should have let the pumpkin roll cool in the fridge 24 hrs before filling it. Oh well.

Wednesday afternoon the rest of my in-laws showed up. Mark, my father-in-law told Debbie that since she had come early, that now it was his turn to hold Luke whenever he wanted. And he did take advantage of that. He held Luke Thursday almost all day. We were so excited for Luke to meet Gary, Emilee and BJ.

Wednesday night the girls participated in the annual go to dinner and then set up the church tradition. We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant where we saw lots more family. Then we set up the cultural hall with tables and decorations so we could come the next morning with the food and eat.

Thursday we went to the church around 10:30 am. We ate at 11:30. Then we played games until 6? We cleaned up and went back home to play some more games before bed.

In other Thursday news, the church was broken into between the time we left on Wednesday and go there Thursday. The doors had all been locked. But the library door had been forced open and a tv, dvd player, copier and some other items had been stolen. So we spent some time with the police on Thanksgiving. I can't imagine that a person could get very much for that stuff, but whatever.

Friday we went to Annie's and played games and ate leftovers. We made cute hair clips under Toni's direction.

Saturday we basically did the same thing. The only difference was that Saturday was the couple night so all the little kids got banished after the BYU win back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had yummy chicken noodle soup for lunch and Panda Express for dinner. Then we played more games. Some people watched "Sasquatch," an old Disney movie about an indian. I played Hearts with Stef, Brett, Ladell and Annie.

Sunday we were able to go to Brightyn Steven's baby blessing. It was nice to be able to attend that family event.

Then we had dinner and played games at Donnie's house. Alison came over and played games with us while Mike slept in the den and the twins slept upstairs.

We meant to take a four generation shot with Greg's dad, but we forgot. So we just took one with Greg's Grandpa. One day Luke will look at the camera.



Us with Greg's grandparents



Luke with his great-grandparents


Monday morning we woke up at 3 (2 central) to get ready. Grandpa Darger took us the the airport at 3:45, our flight was at 6. We got back to Houston around 9:30. I dropped Greg off at work. I came home and crashed after a while. When Greg got home from work, he also took a nap. We had a great Thanksgiving vacation! It was great to see those that were there.