Thanksgiving in the 80525

This Thanksgiving, we were able to go to Fort Collin's and spend it with my sister, Sonja (who hacked into my blog as you can see two posts below...), my parents and Uncle Kris, and Brad's brother, Logan. We headed out after work/school Wednesday night and made it into Fort Collins around midnight right when my mom and Sonja were finishing up the pie prep. After crashing on air mattresses, I woke up with the expectation to watch the Macy's Day parade when my dad asked if I'd like to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming with him for the morning. I was a little torn (ok, not really once he explained his reasoning) but no worries, we made it back in time to see Santa wave to everyone at the end of the parade.

My dad spent a few years of his childhood in Cheyenne and wanted to go back to drive around and see familiar sights. It was a really neat experience to hear his memories of the area and see where those memories took place -- back alleys that he played in with his friends, the home his family lived in, the local convenience store my Grandpa would walk to to buy his newspaper, the elementary school he attended...what a sweet experience. I felt very lucky to spend that one-on-one time with my dad and was glad that he asked me to go (sorry, no pictures!)

The rest of Thanksgiving day was spent playing cards, lounging, watching James Bond, and PIGGING OUT! Mom outdid herself as always and all of us were stuffed very quickly...followed by more cards and dominoes :)

The day after Thanksgiving, we all went on a hike up to Horsetooth. It was perfect weather and Oliver (Sonja's dog) came with us too -- always an adventure with him. These were the only pictures I took of the whole trip so I'm gonna post ALL of them ... :)


Afterwards, we went to the movies (naturally, day-after-Thanksgiving must) followed with more cards and leftovers. That night was spent walking around downtown Ft. Collins with old El Paso friends, the Lands, and eating good tortilla soup.

Unfortunately, my parents and Kris left the next day. After two hardcore classes at Sonja's gym in the morning, we stuffed our faces with popcorn at the movie theater again and then napped/watched tv while Sonja worked on some homework for school. That night, you guessed it, we ended it with cards and leftovers.

On Sunday, we went with Sonja to the first part of church, feasted on leftovers, and then hit the road back to Utah. It was a pretty uneventful drive...until Logan got pulled over 10 minutes from our home (lame-o!!). But all-in-all, it was a fantastic trip, a well-needed reprieve from Utah/work/craziness/life. Thanks again for hosting, Sonja and Oliver!