Thanksgiving in Idaho

Since J was going to school in Idaho, and that is also where my husband's parents live and a bunch of siblings live near by, we decided to go "home" for Thanksgiving this year.  We hadn't been home for Thanksgiving since J was about 5 I think.

The feelings that washed over me were quite amazing when we met up with her.  We decided to stay in a hotel instead of with family since we wanted some time for just our immediate family.  We greeted her in the lobby, and she came to us with a giant smile, full of happiness and confidence, and very much like a woman, not the recent graduate of high school that we had left 3 months earlier.  I felt exquisite joy and it was a very happy reunion for all of us.

And it was like the two girls hadn't skipped a beat, either.  They were as silly, and funny, and sisterly as ever.

There were a lot of people in the house for Thanksgiving, each with their own food assignment to carry out.  Cousins and aunts and uncles had fun socializing along the way nad our meal was super de-lish.

After the delicious turkey dinner feast, we went up to J's apartment because they had a loft area that would fit the entire family for a fun and very special party, called a "Family Tree Party".

Every family had an assignment.  The evening theme was German, Danish, and English, to honor the heritage of my husband's side of the family.  The goals were to have fun while we learned a little more about the countries and ancestors.  

So we did things like:

Sing "Once There Was A Snowman" in German

Made Danish Christmas Tree Ornaments

Grandma and Grandpa gave 5 minutes stories about different ancestors (and we found out they are related to Brigham Young and Joseph Smith!)

Great Grandma told about life on the Ranch as a child

Eat Danish Rice Pudding 

Everyone received a gift wrapped up: A German Nutcracker Ornament

Played games
Musical presentations and poems about family (like my BIL singing a solo with his splendid voice- he is in the Mormon Tabernackle Choir)

It went well and kept everyone quite entertained.

After that, we just spent time together and visited little things around town, like the amazing Christmas lights synchronized to music.  We were glad it would only be 3 weeks until our oldest would be home for Christmas.