thanksgiving 2013. montana-style.

last Thanksgiving (2013) we went up to Montana to be with my extended family.  we always enjoy our big family dinners!!  we stayed at my aunt donna and uncle jim's house and my cousin megan enjoyed having some younger cousins around to play the Wii with her-

thanksgiving dinner was hosted at my cousin abe and sarah's house.  they have been very gracious to host it several times in the past few years.  they have a large living space that allows for the multitude!  these cousins get along great and are always so excited to see each other:

-jacoby, natalia, olivia, brady, zach and rajon-

uncle jim is always a "turkey" {yeah, bad pun}, but it's true!  donna and megan 

-chris, arison, aunt linda, alonzo, ashley and her brother, tyler -

megan and the kids put together some gingerbread houses to get into the holiday spirit for christmas

my cousin, josh and his fiance, jami were in montana for the holiday but were with her family in butte on thanksgiving so we had a second thanksgiving dinner at aunt donna's house! another delicious meal!

that night we tried to watch a family movie all together.  we were going to watch "Prancer," my aunt donna's favorite movie.  it's a really cute christmas movie if you've never seen it.  their tv stopped working and chris said that the flatscreens were on sale at walmart.  surprisingly, uncle jim got up and said, "well let's go then!" and he, chris, josh and jami took off to go get a brand new tv, after which, chris hooked everything up for them.  he loves doing that kind of stuff.

we didn't get t he movie in but setting up all the blankets and trying to find space for everyone sure was fun!

uncle jim took me, josh and jami out in the montana backwoods to take some pictures for their engagements.




i love this white horse-

this is the picture they chose for their engagements-





this one would have been perfect for a christmas greeting-




a few others-

aunt brenda invited us over to her place for a bonfire and some chili and hot dogs and to visit since they had their own plans on thanksgiving.

brady loved hanging out with josh and was his little buddy

we also got to go over to alonzo and ashley's new place that they had just moved into 2 days before thanksgiving and celebrate his and arison's birthdays!

my adorable cousin Miella.

it was a great weekend and so much fun to be able to be with family.  

we are so blessed and thankful for all that the Lord has given to our little family

thanksgiving 2012.

*disclaimer: if you missed the previous post i am in the process of updating!  continue scrolling down to see all new posts!*

olivia produced some wonderful works of art in her preschool class before Thanksgiving.

                               

 

we were able to go down to burley and have Thanksgiving with chris' family.  it was wonderful to be together as a family, but we missed chelsae who wasn't able to come home from college.  we enjoyed dinner in mom and dad's brand new open kitchen and dining room.  they did a beautiful job on their remodel and dinner was delicious as always!

        

after dinner we went for a lovely walk along the river.  it was beautiful with the evening sunshine and crisp air.  zach enjoyed his ride and olivia and brady rode scooters.  grandpa helped to encourage olivia along when she got "too tired."

                 

                  

it was wonderful to see shawnae again and have some time with her.




this yellow bridge was the perfect spot for a family picture! 



          

after our walk we went home and bundled up for a traditional ride into the mountains to see the Christmas lights.  visiting with our friend, the camel!  how cool is he?!

it was a wonderful weekend with family and on the way home we brought someone back with us!  auntie shawnae is moving in with us for a while for a change of scenery and fresh start.  we are so proud of her for the decisions she's made and the goals that she has for her future!