Thanksgiving Oh Nine!

This Thanksgiving Scott and I drove up to Eden to spend some time with Scott's Uncle John and Aunt Jana, their kids, and all of Jana's extended family. It was great to spend my favorite holiday with a huge, chaotic family! I felt right at home!!! Eden was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and Jana's family was so nice to us. They made us feel right at home, and I was comfortable the whole time. We had a great time getting to know the extended family better, and especially spending time with our Bilton cousins. I love spending time with Sarah, and Scott loves messing around with Tanner and Blake. A bunch of us woke up and went for a morning turkey trot. Everyone who didn't go was in their pj's till one or two. Jana, Sarah, all of the girl cousins, and I went to the gym to work out while Scott went running outside (it was a beautiful beautiful day... perfect weather!). I've never had a Thanksgiving so full of exercise! Ha ha... I guess it did make the pigging out a little bit more enjoyable. Scott went with John, Blake, and Tanner after dinner to go shooting. He said it was a lot of fun, but shooting isn't quite his thing! That makes me happy... I'm not big on shooting. It was a really laid-back Thanksgiving Day, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

One of the things I look forward to around Christmas and Thanksgiving is my friends coming home from college! This year Em came into town, and I was so excited to see her! Scott and I went up to the Kerns to spend a night with John, Sharon, Tucker (for a bit), and Em. It was SO GREAT to be back in this house and just have fun laughing and talking. One of the things I love about getting together with Em is that we don't have "catch up" conversations. I feel like with some friends I spend a lot of time catching each other up on our lives, which is important, but I love when we can just dive in like we haven't missed a beat. It brings me back to that natural and easy feeling of friendship that we've shared for years. Em and I have been best friends since seventh grade... since we were twelve or thirteen. That is incredible to me. I've been so blessed in this friendship, and I know it will last forever. I have very few memories that don't include Emily. She's always been my other hip!

And I have to say that I am so grateful for Scott. It's great to be married to someone who makes the people who are important to me just as important to him. I'm so thrilled that my two best friends get along so well! I really lucked out there. Scott was so sweet to come with me to the Kerns and just fit in as if he grew up there too! You know when girls get together they take a million pictures of themselves, holding the camera out themselves while they make ridiculous faces? It's the classic shot. I love being married because my fantastic husband takes those pictures for us! I love him because he knows I'm ridiculous, and he loves me anyway... and even better, he joins in! He's even been searching flights lately to send me up to Colorado to visit Em on her turf.

Hopefully we'll all get to do some climbing before Emmy heads back (slash skiing if we can get some more snow).











We need to get Amelia and Sydney back here in December, and then I will have the merriest Christmas ever!


And guess who comes home tomorrow, who is on a plane to return to the homeland as we speak? MY MOM!!!!!!! I can't wait to welcome her back! Scabies and all!