Thanksgiving

We planned on having Makai's blessing right after Thanksgiving so that Grandparents would have more time off work to come out. So we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house. Jared's parents arrived Wednesday afternoon and my parents and Michelle got here that night. We spent all of Thanksgiving at our house. It was pretty low-key. We had the usual: turkey, potatoes, corn, breads, rolls, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, and pies. We got the adults squished around the table and let the kids sit at their little table. I think everything turned out pretty good.

On Friday we took the kids swimming at the hotel pool. It took the boys a little while to feel comfortable in the water but Kaliya went in just fine. We even let her try the boys' arm floaties and she loved it. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. I'll have to get them from others. We used the hotel's conference room to eat some lunch. My brothers showed up later that afternoon. Carter was glad to have his buddy Andrew there.

Makai

On Saturday we went swimming again. Then later that day, we dressed up the kids for some family photos. We also told them someone special was going to come see them. They did a pretty good job with smiling and having their pictures taken. Here's one of the better ones:

Santa (my dad) came to visit the kids in the hotel lobby. We might have had Carter and Kaliya convinced that it was Santa. Laken was too smart for it. He kept asking if it was "the real" Santa and eventually figured it was Grandpa. Santa had the kids sit on his lap and asked them what they wanted for Christmas then gave them each a gift. Each kid was a little nervous to sit with Santa but once they got on his lap and started talking, they were fine. Laken said he wanted a green monster truck with a remote. Carter said he wanted a blue monster truck and a flashlight. I don't recall Kaliya actually saying she wanted anything.

Laken and Carter

Kaliya and Makai

Saturday night we went out for pizza. The kids behaved really well at the restaurant while waiting for their pizza. 

Sunday was the last day everyone was here. We went to church for Makai's blessing then cane home after Sacrament meeting. We wanted to make sure everyone had enough time to leave when they wanted in the afternoon to drive home. It's nice having family visit but it's also always nice when things get back to normal. It was such a short visit this time tho and always hard saying goodbye. We knew this would be the last time we would see Jared's parents for a while. They were waiting to receive a mission call (they have since gotten it and are heading to California soon for 18 months). So it will probably be sometime after that when we see them again.

My parents with their grandkids