Thanksgiving Week in Utah {Part Dos: Logan}

We headed north on Wednesday, arriving in time to greet the fam and take a few swings on the swing out back before a couple of my high school friends were to arrive for a little reunion of sorts.  Unfortunately only one could make it after all, but we had a lovely visit with Jessie and her mom, and Cal showed off all her talking and animal sounds skills.  That evening was Taco Plop Night. (Taco Plop is a hot bean dip that my aunt Nikie brought to Thanksgiving years ago - we all loved it so much we didn't leave any room for Thanksgiving dinner, so now my mom likes to serve it as a meal itself the day before Thanksgiving instead.  A best of both worlds sort of idea.)  Grandpa and Grandma Thornley joined us for the festivities and later that evening we watched the Ags play basketball (and lose to UC Davis - sad).

I love that first view of Cache Valley!

Don't let this photo fool you, Cal really does love her "Mama"
(that's what she calls her grandmas - I'm just "Mom").

Taco Plop and other apps.  That's my kind
of dinner!

Grandpa and Grandma Great, Thornley edition.

Thursday morning we had waffles made by my dad for breakfast (I love his waffles!).  We watched some of the Macy's parade and some football while we put together a puzzle amid all the roll-making and potato peeling prep for later.  After Callie's nap we headed to Hyde Park to my Elwood Grandparents' house for our big turkey dinner.  This year we had a huge gang of Elwoods - our biggest in years - there for the feast: my grandparents; my whole family (plus spouses and grandkids, obviously); my Uncle Ron and Aunt Lisa from Arizona, with their oldest, Ladd, his wife Perla, and their new baby Ember; my Uncle Dennis and Aunt Nikie from Connecticut, with their three kids plus son-in-law to be; and my Uncle Dale and Aunt Alicia and cousins MaKinna and Macie from Hyde Park.  Twenty nine people in all, counting the new babies!  What a party!

Baby Ebby snoozing in Aunty Mugs's arms.

I love her pursed little lips.

Thanksgiving game time!

Ember with Great Grandma Elwood.

Ember Marie Elwood.

I really wanted a picture of my grandparents with all three of
their great grandbabies (all girls!).

Cal was obviously not too thrilled about this prospect.

I know it's probably not that funny to anyone else, but I just love
this sequence of photos.

Haha - poor Grandpa!

There, all seems to be well.  (But is that cracker just hiding
the sad face?  The world will never know!)

Grandma's got her arms full!

Cousins and their kiddos - Nate with Evelyn and Ladd with
Ember, who is about a month older than Ev.

All the Elwood great-grandgirls with their Elwood parents.

Kind of a random group photo, but I guess it makes sense.
Back row: (grandparents and great-grandparents)
Richard and Peggy, Margaret and Dean, Lisa and Ron
Middle Row: (parents and babies)
Kim and Callie, Nate and Evelyn, Ladd and Ember
Front Row: (inlaws)
Gregg, Shelly and Perla

Before all the photo-taking mania, but after we ate, Cal got to go play outside with my cousins (so that would be her first cousins once removed, right?) Emory (age 9 1/2) and Macie (age almost 8).  Aunty Heather ("Hehwah") went along as adult supervision and photographer (thanks Heatha for the cute photos!) while we watched from the kitchen window as we washed dish after dish after dish.

Macie, Callie and Emory

These girls adored Callie, following her around
practically all afternoon saying "Callie!  Callie!"
all the while.

Going walking.

A leaf!

While she was out there, Heather taught her a new
animal sound.  Now Cal knows that a bird says
"tweet".

Friday brought another friend-visiting and baby-holding day for me.  I got to go see another brand new baby (Benjamin) of my friend Sarah (who lives in my parents' ward but I knew her from our student ward before we were both married - she's also the mom of Cal's birthday twin, Daniel) and visit with her, too, of course.  When I got back, Gregg headed out on another ski day with Nate to Snowbasin.  That afternoon, I had another high-school friend reunion, again with Jessie and her mom, and Christine and her little boy, Zachary, came this time.  My other friend Marcy stopped by, as well, to visit and introduce me to her brand new baby, Greta.  Yay for friends and yay for babies!  Heather and I finished off the evening with some rousing Christmas duets, something we look forward to anytime we're together with a piano, though we really need to figure out how to get Mom and Dad a new piano that doesn't ring quite so much before it will be really enjoyable to listen to again.

Jessie, Christine, Zachary, Kim, Callie and Heather

Callie let Heather and Terrell play stacking cups with her.

Cheesy-McCheesester joined us for a song.

I was happy to oblige a wriggling baby at the
keyboard if it means that someday she'll want
to play duets with her mom for real.

On Saturday the girls got to go play at a fun and fancy bridal shower for my cousin, Chiara, who is getting married on December 20th.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch and fun games and present-opening while Gregg made a visit to yet another ski area (but this one isn't open yet), Cherry Peak Resort in Richmond.  On the way home from the shower, we stopped by to see H & T's cute apartment, with a detour to a nearby park for some swinging for Callie.

Cherry Peak - they've got a lot of work yet to do before they
can open.

Cloud pic at the park.

Cousins!

It's crazy to me how huge Cal looks compared
to a newborn!

Grandma and Grandpa snuggles before bed.

Saturday evening was supposed to be spent cheering on the Ags in football against Boise State, but unfortunately (or fortunately, since they got creamed) I didn't make it past the first few quarter since I got sick with a yucky stomach bug.  Meg got it, too, and we were both up all night on the couches in the living room, trading turns in the bathroom.  Gregg had a rough night, as well, and Sunday morning we learned that Heather and Terrell were sick, too.  That meant all us sickies stayed home from church that morning, which was extra sad because it was the day that Baby Evelyn was being blessed.  No fair!  Gregg and I were able to get a nap in while Grandpa and Grandma took Cal to Sacrament Meeting.  Then we packed up the car and hit the road.  It was a long and terrible drive (mostly because we were so doggone tired), but we made it to Fruita (our goal was Green River, so we were overachievers) and crashed in a motel that night.  After an amazing night of sleep for all three of us, we traveled the last couple of hours homeward, feeling much, much better.  Not the way I would have planned the last 24 hours of our Thanksgiving Week adventure, but we all survived, and luckily Callie came out unscathed.

Cal just cracks me up here, watching some motel room tv
before heading down to breakfast in the morning.