Thanksgiving

Just before Thanksgiving break there was a lot of hype about a really bad blizzard that was going to hit all of washington, Idaho, and Utah.  The driving conditions were supposed to be terrible because there was not only supposed to be snow, but really bad wind and very cold temperatures.  Because of the crazy blizzard coming our way, Steve and I decided to leave a lot earlier than planned. We grabbed our stuff and rushed out the door and yes we did beat the blizzard.  That evening the wind was really bad and it was really cold, but we woke up in the morning to very little snow on the ground.  The blizzard pretty much fizzled out before it got to Utah.  It was pretty adventurous thought thinking that we were beating the blizzard.  It was a great Thanksgiving weekend.

 Wednesday evening Andrea got to take a bath with her cousin Kaydence.  They had a lot of fun!

 They played together just the two of them for almost two hours.  Andrea mimicked everything that Kaydence did.  In fact, she learned how to count to three and do the actions with her fingers that night.  After Kaydence counted to ten and showed us each number on her fingers a few times Andrea yelled something out loud and did a number one sign with her fingers and then tried to do the rest.  So, she can't really say, "One, two, three," but she sure tried and definitely tried to make the symbol with her fingers.  It's amazing how fast she learns things just from observing.

 We had our Thanksgiving dinner in Manti.  It was really yummy and lots of fun to everyone together at the table.  As soon as we cleaned up from dinner however, we headed up to the cabin.  I forgot to take a picture of our dinner, but Andrea (mom and dad's foreign exchange student) took a picture, so I will have to get one from her. Up at the cabin there was a lot of snow. You can see how excited Andrea was about wearing her snow clothes. :-)

 We're getting dressed to play in the snow!

 Yes, Kayla and Tyson brought their child too. Chancho had a blast at the cabin and playing in the snow.

 Kayla and Tyson have now been married for six months!

 Andrea didn't care for making a snow angel too  much.  I think she'll like it a lot more next year.

 Look at those cute girls getting ready to go down the sledding hill.

 Mom and I were the official photographers.

 Andrea wasn't having too bad of a time.  She loved watching everyone else.

 This is what Scott looked like after is sledding run.

 Canon was having a blast with his Daddy and Aunts and Uncles in the snow.

 This is what Steve looked like after climbing back up the hill (just a little exhausted. :))

 My brothers love when they get to play. :-)  Kaydence was sick, so John and Markell had to stay home, otherwise John would be right out there playing with Scott and Kenny.

 Here's a picture of Ken after he and Canon went down the hill together.

 Andrea was having a blast sledding down the hill.  She'd never played in snow before.  Or seen snow before this year.

 Here comes the brave Grandma Barclay.  Not many Grandma's will go sledding down a hill with a ramp in it.

 But she's brave and tough, so she made it down just fine and had a lot of fun doing it too. :-)

 Even Chancho went part way down the hill with his dad (Tyson.)

 This is a picture of Steve and I after our run down the hill.  If you look closer at the picture you can see all the melted snow on our faces.  The snow was very powdery, so we got pretty wet.

 Steve coming up the hill with Canon.

 A few moments later Steve carrying Canon up the hill.  He was a little pooped and not going fast enough for Uncle Steve, so Uncle Steve carried him.

 Canon partied hard in the snow, even with barely being able to see. :-)

 Andrea's first snow angel ever.

 Casen loves to have Grandpa throw him in the air or take him flying around the room.

 Andrea and all the grandkids absolutely loved the bean bags (love sacks)  they'd run straight it the bean bag and then jump right on it.  They had a blast.

 Canon and Casen ganged up on Grandpa.  They were trying to tickle him and take away toys etc.

 We played cherades one night while at the cabin.  It was a lot of fun.  This is Steve acting out Silverado I believe. :-)

 This is mom acting out something, I'm not sure what.  You can decide for yourself.

 Andrea had some pretty cute hair after taking out her pig tails.  I had to get that on camera.

 When we got home from the cabin Andrea had an answer to a school dance waiting outside the door for her.

 Andrea was pretty excited to see all the fun gifts and play with her Uncle Tyson.

 Andrea and Kaydence tried to help Andrea read the poster.  It was pretty funny.  They were so interested.

 John and Markell came over to the house after we all went to the movies and saw Harry potter 7 1st half.  We played a few games that I had learned from the Barclay Reunion in Idaho.  Andrea was my partner and she actually did really well for not speaking English that long. It was good to be able to see them again and we were glad that Kaydence was feeling better.

 Casen was obsessed with the piano!  We constantly found him in the living room playing the piano and signing some sort of tune.  He loved it.

Andrea wanted to play too.  It took a while for them to be able to share, but once they did it was really cute.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  Steve had to do some homework while we were there, but such is the life of a law student.  We got to see a lot of family members, eat good food, play fun games, and get a little break from school and work.  We really are so blessed!