Thanksgiving 2013

What a whirlwind couple of months it has been.  The first week of November I got a new, much more time-consuming calling, then we spent the next few weeks adjusting to that and getting ready for my family to come visit for Thanksgiving.  All the Hansen crew and Glenn's brother Ian spent just less than 4 days together here at my house, then we all spread out across the country again.  And now suddenly we have a week and a half left before Christmas.  I'm not sure where this Fall went.  I wish we could do it over just one more time.  I feel like I missed it.

Thanksgiving with my family and dear Uncle Ian was wonderful.  We looked forward to it for months and, as expected, it flew by much too quickly.  We had 17 people including all the kiddos staying in my house and it was a blast.  We are so spread out across the country now that we don't get together more than once a year.  The last time we were all together was for a few days last Christmas time.  We have a really good time when we get together and it's always a bummer when we separate not knowing when we'll all be together again.

The Thanksgiving meal was quite an event.  Glenn was determined to make a Turducken.  That would be a chicken, in a duck, in a turkey, with layers of Glenn's corn bread stuffing in between each one.  Cody and Glenn spent the evening before boning three birds and putting the masterpiece together.

 Thanksgiving morning some of us took off for a Gobble Wobble 5K run in Littleton.  It was a great little race around a pond and park.  I'm definitely in for next year.  Some wore funny hats, Adam wore his red long johns.  

It was a good time all around and a nice way to start off a day of marathon eating.

Cody and Tate got some snuggle time in as Cody explained hunting shows to him.  Tate was surprisingly intrigued.

 We had a very full house for the meal as Garvins were able to join us as well.  The food spread was incredible. I don't even know if I have a favorite dish.  There were too many delicious ones to choose from.

 Finn was very pleased as well.

 And the three little kiddos had fun eating at their little kiddo table.

After dinner we played some card games with the Garvins.  Always a delight.

 Finn went back and forth from watching "Planes" on Adam's ipad at the kids table

to begging for strawberry rhubarb pie from Grandpa.

 Friday was a pretty chill day.  In the morning we got a couple of babysitters to watch all the kids while we went to the new Hunger Games movie together.  It was great to get some adult time and we all really enjoyed the new movie.  Our kids played so well together all weekend.  It was just fun to be around them while they enjoyed each other.  Finn was especially enamored with his girly cousins and he loved our two babies as well.  He often got in the babies faces saying, "Hi baby Abby!"  "Hi baby Hayze."  The babies were so sweet all weekend as well.  Happy and so stinkin' cute.  I can hardly stand that I don't get to watch them get bigger!  The next time I see them they'll be completely different people.  It's a total bust.

We spent Friday afternoon chilling at the house while babies slept, then headed to a fun park for an hour or so before it got dark.  The kids had a great time at the park and we grown ups joined in a fair bit as well.  Mal, Kenz and I took turns in a spinning chair of doom.  I'm surprised none of us threw up.  Kenz and Cody had a competition of sorts on a tight rope.  It's difficult to say if either of them really "won".  We had a good laugh watching them either way.

Saturday morning we took some family pictures.  It was absolutely necessary considering how seldom we are all together and how many new family members we've added since our last ones.  A dear friend from our ward took them and did a fabulous job.

Right after pictures we decided to hit up our Science Museum for a few hours.  We were tired and it wasn't an ideal time of day for the kiddos but we managed to have a great time.  Dinosaurs, kids discovery zone, Sadie wanted to see the mummies, Tate wanted to see the African Animals, then we ended with the Health exhibit which was our favorite.  There were a lot of hands-on experiments and a little kids area too.  The kids stayed in there with Glenn and Uncle Ian who were just about done museuming while the rest of us had way too much fun being goofy together.  It's fun when you get all your siblings together and you are able to let loose and remember how much fun you have together.  We're not just moms and dads and employees and nurses, we're siblings.  We were kids together and sometimes when we're together we're kids again and that's kinda fun.

My favorite experiment is a brain wave game.  It's a competition where you and your opponent put sensors on your forehead and try to clear your mind.  There's a ball on the table that starts in the middle and moves toward the person with the most brain activity.  So the more you relax the faster you move the ball toward your opponent's side of the table.  When it enters your opponent's goal, you win.  On the wall there's a screen that shows the rise and fall of each person's brain waves.  It was a fun thing to do with siblings.  Kenzie took on Cody.  

 Aub took on Mom

 Ad and Cami

 And Mallory

 and I went at it.

It was a really good time.  We ended up in the kids area with our kids and made impressions of our faces.  What a good lookin' bunch we are.

 After the museum we headed to Cafe Rio for lunch, because it was down the street, and there are several of us who don't live near a Cafe Rio anymore so it was an obvious choice.

That night we had a belated first birthday party for Baby Abby.  What a sweet little girl she is.  I don't know if I ever heard her really cry.  She would kind of whimper when she was sad, but it more sounded like her heart was breaking than that she was really upset.  Such a dear little miracle baby.  It was fun to be able to celebrate her all together.

She wanted nothing to do with her cupcake.

 Adam forced some frosting into her mouth at one point and she gave a big shutter.  It was hilarious.

 We have a lot to be grateful this year, as always.  This year we put a little grateful tree on our wall and wrote things we were grateful for on leaves throughout the month.  I liked this little tradition and I think we'll keep it up for next year.  Here are a few of our favorite gratefuls:

 I love that little Miss Sadie is grateful for Chameleons.

 Dick Chopp, Glenn's surgeon from almost 4 and a half years ago now.  Grateful for him.

 Jobs, clothes, family, chocolate chip cookies, Tate wrote Star Ward Angry Bird Telepods a couple of times.  His new favorite thing.

 And of course, the Turducken made the list.

It was a spectacular Thanksgiving.  I hope we can get together like this at least every year.  It's only going to get harder now that our kids are starting school.  Little Mya is in Kindergarten already and Tate will start next year.  But it is worth every inconvenience and sacrifice it takes to get this crazy family of ours together.  We have a great time when we do and I am thankful to have a family that I absolutely adore.

Thanks for coming everyone.  Can't wait til next time!