Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love spending time with family & friends.  I also like thinking about gratitude and realizing how blessed I am.  I have so many wonderful blessings in my life, I have so much to be grateful for; the gospel, my family, good health, a good job, etc...

We spent Thanksgiving break in sunny Southern Utah at the Pondersosa Ranch.  G & G Shields rented a big house for all the Shields clan to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It was a fun, busy, crazy calorie filled, exhausting weekend and we all had a blast!

There were 25 people staying at the house including 11 kids.  Here are some pictures from our weekend. 



We spent our time hiking and biking in Zions National Park, playing outside, eating, and preparing tons of food, soaking in the hot tub, playing games, watching movies, having late night discussions and more.

Thursday morning we did a 3 mile hike before our Thanksgiving feast.  The kids all did pretty good hiking and the scenery was gorgeous.  Lizzie did great in her backpack, she loves being outdoors.



After the hike it was back to the house to cook dinner.

Emily and Mary really wanted to eat the drumsticks from the turkey.  They looks like pigs in this picture!

We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Everyone helped prep food, cook, and clean up the dishes.  Monica made these adorable name tags, they were so cute.
Dad fell asleep during all the chaos, and I had to get a picture, it's so funny!

On Friday we went into Zions and did some biking, ate a picnic lunch and played a big game of football.  The kids played in the leaves, burying each other.  It was so beautiful in the park, and the weather was perfect. 

These kids did pretty well at getting along and not fighting.  They all play great together and seem to have tons of fun! 

We are so grateful that we could spend the weekend with our family!  It was definately a memorable Thanksgiving.