Thanksgiving

In front of Thomas Jefferson's home.

We had quite the adventure for Thanksgiving this year.  It started out with a nice looooong drive to Virginia.  Actually, it was eight hours long.  Enough complaining about the drive though.  We've tried to make any person (who was willing to listen and willing to pretend to care) feel bad for us, which is kind of immature. 

We went to Richmond, Virginia and stayed in a hotel with Ryan's mission buddy, Matt Snider, and his wife, Chelsee.  For Thanksgiving day, Ryan and Matt headed out with Matt's cousin, Randy, to play football.  Even though Ryan had no football gear and never touched the ball, I'm sure he still had fun. :)  When the boys got back, we headed over to Randy's house to have a delicious dinner prepared by his wife, Amber.  Sounds like a potentially awkward situation (eating a Thanksgiving dinner prepared by people you just met), but Amber and Randy acted like they didn't care at all.  Very nice people, I know. 

Matt and Chelsee

 Randy and Amber with their little girl Jaynie, along with Lisa and Nick, their friends in VA.

Saturday, before heading back, we went to Monticello, where Thomas Jefferson's home is.  That was pretty neat.  Josh wasn't quite as impressed with the house tour as we adults were, so after the tour guide suggested we take a break, Josh and I headed outside to get rid of some energy. Once we regrouped, we joined the others and were able to see the rest of the tour.  All in all, we had a great mini vacation, spending time with the group, spending time in the pool, and mainly spending some time with each other.  Josh was on cloud nine with his dad being around so much.  In fact, this past Monday, Josh couldn't figure out why Ryan wasn't still hanging out with us.  

The only downsides to the trip were the drive and the short time we spent there, but usually both of those things factor into vacations, so we have little to complain about.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to quickly note how grateful I am for Ryan and Josh and our new baby.  Ryan is such a good husband, and he's very supportive of me.  Joshua is so much fun, and he's our pride and joy.  I'm so grateful for the gospel and to know that we can all be together for forever.  Hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings, and if you want to have another one, let us know...we really miss those leftovers!