Family visit

My family's visit this week was like a "greatest hits" event full of our family's favorite activities. We went hiking, to a gingerbread festival, to Temple Square, to some museums, and miniature golfing. We enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner, a game tournament, and of course, the traditional "Crazy Night" homemade pizza. 

Here's our early Thanksgiving dinner. With two sisters and a grandma around, it was the easiest holiday meal ever, hands down.

Aunt Connie came down from Boise to see the family. Within minutes, little Michael snuggled right up to her, and everyone else gravitated toward her. When Aunt Connie starts talking, I don't want to get out of earshot--she's completely intriguing.  

 

We hiked two trails in Big Cottonwood, where we coincidentally found a letterboxing cache. Our unexpected find has inspired me to research geocaching, and we plan on going soon. 

 

This is the beginning of a game tournament. Winners took home a bubble gum machine, glow sticks, and bottle rockets. Dad clinched the booby prize, a can of refried beans.

Spending this last week with my family has helped me appreciate the friendships that I have with my siblings, but especially with the "older kids" (Amy, Kim, Sandra, and James). I remember the first time we invited James to an after-the-younger-kids'-bedtime board game party. Over a rollicking game of Balderdash, James laughed so hard that he had to lie on the floor for several minutes before resuming play. Since then, we've spent hundreds of hours in late-night game sessions, including dozens of game parties with our church buddies. 

     The sisters are an unrivaled team in any acting or guessing game because we think alike. We finish each other's sentences and ruin each other's jokes. James is a wild card, always coming up with these one-liners that have us girls cracking up. (Example: the other night at dinner, the waiter mentioned that his name is Jacob and his younger brother's name is Zachary, just like my boys. After Waiter Jake left the table, James leaned forward, eyebrows cocked, and whispered, "Is he from the future?" Sitting back, James grinned smugly while we laughed our tortilla chips onto our plates.) 

  Tonight my house is quiet: my siblings are gone and my kids are asleep. And I'm up (too late!) feeling grateful for fun memories, old and new.