Thanksgiving in Utah

This year we flew home to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was the BEST trip. Everyone was so fun to be with and everything went so smoothly. We really couldn't have asked for it to have gone better. We hadn't been to Utah since last Christmas so we definitely ready for some quality time with family.

Getting ready to leave Portland. Teddy is OBSESSED with airplanes and was so excited to watch them land and take off.

Our first stop was to spend time in Sandy with Jane and Gary and all Ben's siblings. We were especially excited to see Landon and Liesl who we hadn't seen in over two years. We were all together for a few days and it was the best. Nayeli loved her time with her cousins Andelin and Adelaide.

Dressing up as princesses. What, haven't you ever seen a princess in a safari hat and flapper dress before? ;)

Fashion shows on Grandpa Gary's stage

We arrived Tuesday night and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. Wednesday we were all tired, but that couldn't stop us from having fun together. The boys played pickleball in the morning, then Bonnie, Liesl and I left the kids with Grandma Jane while we went to lunch together. While we were gone everyone went swimming. Jane had bought all the kids their own kick boards and they had a great time.

 Swimming!

The rest of the day we enjoyed chatting and eating delicious food while the kids played. For dinner Gary and Jane treated us to Cafe Rio (my favorite) and then we played games and talked.

 The girls acting silly together

We went to bed early that night since the next morning we had signed up to run a 5k. Usually I am not signed up to run such things, but it went something like this... I told Ben years ago that I had wanted to run a Turkey Trot someday, so when Jane asked if we wanted to run it with her Ben encouraged me to do it and said he'd watch the kids. Eventually it morphed into everyone running while Gary watched our kids. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing since I hadn't run over three miles in about ten years, but I decided to go for it.

We had to be up at 6:15 am, but I was up with Teddy from about 3-5am and I was beat. Needless to say I was not the nicest when Ben woke me up in the morning. I think I said something like, "I'm am so SICK of getting woken up!" In my defense I am delirious when I am sleep deprived. I would have backed out of the whole thing... but my pride got the best of me.

We arrived at the race and it was a mad house. Plus it was 26 degrees. I thought, "This is triple torture. Not only am I running, but I'm running in the early morning AND  in the freezing cold". But I decided to make the best of it and, like Nike says, just do it.

My only goal was the run the entire time and not walk at all. Once the race started I plugged in my headphones, got some awesome music going, and got into a groove. I kept a decent pace and I was even able to sprint to the finish! I was so excited! My time was 36:13 which I was thrilled about.

Ben is so good at encouraging me to do things that will challenge me. Sometimes I hate it, but most of the time I love him for it.

Team White Meat! Chelsea came in first which was awesome.

After the race, we arrived home to find the kids still asleep.  Gary hadn't even had to watch them after all. After showering, we began cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. Gary's kids all came and it was great to see them. We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed talking. The afternoon was relaxing and we were able to spend a little more time with Jane.

Reading books with Grandma Jane

That evening we said goodbye to Jane and Gary and drove down to my parent's house in Provo. They are currently remodeling so the house was a bit torn up, but the changes are amazing. Really, my mom and dad have outdone themselves with the design and it looks wonderful. Especially the kitchen- my childhood kitchen is no longer but the new kitchen is so beautiful that it makes up for it. My parents gave us a tour of the house that night and we ended the day by chatting with Tina, Laura and Julia.

The next morning the kids and I slept while Ben got up at 5am to do a sunrise hike with Sammy. Because that's what those Petersens do.

Beutahful, isn't it? ;)

Two peas in a pod

On Friday my parents had to be at the temple all day so we spent the day at Laura's new house. She recently moved from Mapleton to Provo and I hadn't seen her home yet so we spent the day chatting and cooking. David and Marilyn and their family joined all the rest of us and that night we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all my siblings but Emily and Mark (you were missed!). We had such a fun time laughing together and dinner was wonderful.

Owen and Teddy

On Saturday we got up and went to the Bean Museum. I grew up going there with my dad on date-night and have very fond memories of it. A few years ago they remodeled it so I wanted to take the kids and Ben and go see it. It did not disappoint- I loved it and so did the kids. 

"Mom, take a picture of me with my cute face!"

We spent the rest of day at Laura's house, eating leftovers and enjoying time together. I love my family so much and feel so blessed to be one of them.

Grandma Rita and Teddy

Before we left for Utah, Nayeli told me, "I'm shy of Grandma Rita and Opa". After a few days there she said, "I'm not shy of them anymore". It seems my parents can charm anyone.

On Sunday we went to our old ward in south Provo- the Provo 6th ward. It was so great to see all our old friends and ward members. There were so many examples of pure Christ-like love in that ward that it warmed my heart to see those who welcomed our family into their own. I will love many of those people forever.

After church we went to Sam and Bonnie's apartment for dinner with Ben's dad and Landon and Liesl. It was great to get some time together again with everyone and wonderful to see Ben's dad. We had a delicious dinner and Sam and Bonnie were great hosts.

All the Petersen cousins!

Playing around with Uncle Landon

Dave brought his guitar and serenaded us all while the brothers sang together once more

This picture just warms my heart, especially Nayeli with her hand on Andelin's shoulder.

Of course there was hair styling as well.

Monday was our last day in Utah, and just in time Utah delivered with a bit of snow for the kids to play in. They were really excited about it. 

We had to say goodbye to my parents which, as you can tell, Teddy was devastated by. I was a little sad as well because my parents are wonderful.

We drove up north to Kaysville to visit my Nana Ruby. She is 99 years old and until just last year was living alone and independent. She now lives in an assisted living center. She has always been an optimistic, wonderful woman. I sure love her and I loved getting to spend some time with her.

Teddy is the most loving little boy.

Our last visit of our trip was Ben's grandparent's house in Ogden. Kent and Nyla were kind enough to invite us up and we even got to spend a little more time with Landon and Liesl and the girls! It was wonderful. We chatted with Leslie, Dave, Kent and Nyla and ate delicious food. It is always a party when one goes to Grammy's!

They made gingerbread houses! I think they were sick from all the candy, but they had so much fun.

Grandpa Dave and Teddy playing with the broom

Nayeli with Nyla and Lydia and Jace (Josh's kids)

In the evening after dinner Ben's dad drove us to the airport and we said goodbye to Utah for the time being. Our flight went well and the kids did great. We arrived home tired but so happy to have had such a fun time. Like I said, it was a great trip and we are still smiling from the good times we had. Until next time Utah!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Since Ben had the whole weekend off, we tried to plan fun activities for each day. It went something like this:

Friday morning we had breakfast with a new family in our ward, the Leland's. The food was delicious and it was fun to get to know them better. We then went to cut down our Christmas tree. There are multiple tree farms in our area, but we went to the same one we went to last year. Turns out it's owned by a Mormon family in a neighboring ward. It was kind of a fun connection to make.

My woodsman. He loves this.

We opted for a small tree to put up high out of Teddy's reach.  We then loaded it into the trunk of the car and headed for home. As we drove, however, we saw that a antique store/farm was open. Of course we had to go. What better thing to do on Black Friday? :)

The woman who owned the farm had turned all the old buildings into part of her shop. This was once a potting shed.

Then as luck would have it, it turned out the woman also bred and raised miniature donkeys. Nayeli was ecstatic. In fact, she asked for a donkey as a pet for a few days after.

Arent' they adorable? I'll admit I was smitten as well.

Later we drove home to put up the tree and begin to decorate the house. It was a gloriously relaxing Black Friday. Just the kind we like.

Saturday we took Nayeli to another farm nearby that was also giving tours of it's animals. She is really into animals right now- even more so than dolls or princesses. She has asked multiple times for a dog or cat but I keep telling her we'll talk about it when we get a house. Maybe the phase will have passed by then, right? :)

In the afternoon we did a little shopping for some necessary family items. Then that night we met our friends the Clarks at a bouldering gym. It's a great place for kids- they have walls that you can climb up and then get down on a slide. Nayeli was in heaven. Plus she was with her best friend Audra. They are two peas in a pod. It's so fun to see them play together.

Audra and Nayeli

Ben was loving it as well.

Sunday we relaxed, went to church, and then finished decorating the Christmas tree. We also made paper snowflakes. Ben taught me to make them from coffee filters, which is much easier. It was such a great time to reconnect as a family and have some downtime. There is nobody I would rather be with than Ben and my kids. They are wonderful.

Our tree, complete with ornaments from my childhood and some purchased on trips we've taken as a couple. We've also started the tradition of getting an ornament for each child each year.

Let Christmas arrive!

Thanksgiving Day in Oregon

This year we decided to stay in Oregon for Thanksgiving. We are heading to Utah for Christmas and so it seemed like a great idea to enjoy the holiday with just our little family. We even had friends invite us to have dinner with them, however we graciously declined and planned a fun menu. Besides, last year we did Christmas alone and it was so wonderful that we couldn't pass up another opportunity to do something like that again. 

Ben peeling apples for the pie with Nayeli. Note the fort in the background.

Ben was so helpful with the kids all of Thursday. I did some of the cooking on Wednesday, but most I had to do the day of in our little kitchen. When I say little, I mean that it's so small it doesn't fit two cooks. I even measured it one day so that I can one day say, "Remember when our kitchen was four by seven feet and we couldn't open the refrigerator and dishwasher at the same time?" Anyway, I digress. The bottom line is that he really couldn't help in kitchen so he had a blast with the kids instead.

My plan was to combine each of our favorite dishes from our families and make the best meal ever. First on the list- Ben's Grandma Nyla's buttermilk rolls. Nayeli helped me cut them out and butter them. It's so fun that she's getting to the age that she can actually help and participate.

Ben got out our good camera and took some pictures while we did the rolls. It was my first time making homemade rolls so I was a little nervous.

Ready to rise!

The final product! They weren't perfect, but much better than I anticipated.

This picture kind of sums up my life right now- unshowered (I do shower... but not as early in the day as I'd like), with baby Teddy on my hip, focusing on a recipe or some other project. I love it. And I love Teddy's face. Classic.

We also did an apple pie together- it was my first pie ever. I also baked/heated up a ham. So much easier than the 25 pound turkey I did for Christmas last year.

Finally showered and ready to eat. And yes, both kids wore their pajamas to Thanksgiving dinner. That's the joy of not going anywhere on a holiday.

Ben is amazing. He went and picked these beautiful berries from a bush out in front of our apartment to put as a centerpiece on the table.

The final product. We had ham, mashed potatoes, butternut squash souffle, rolls, Stove Top stuffing (Ben insisted), green beans, Martinelli's, Simply Lemonade and apple pie for dessert. Delicious. Ben did the place settings. When I acted surprised that they were so cute he said, "Honey, I've picked up a thing or two from you in the five years we've been married." He's a keeper.

In the afternoon we rested and then went for a drive in the surrounding farm country. We talked about our dreams of owning a house and some land. Driving in the country does that to us. 

I missed my family a bit during the day since all my siblings but me were at my parent's house. However Ben was so upbeat and optimistic and all the food we cooked turned out delicious. It was a great day, and the weekend only got better.