November 27, Wednesday
We
arrived at the airport this morning around 9:30 AM. We stopped and said hi to Ryker
Pierce on the way to the gate. He recognized us and we stopped to chat with him
for a bit. He's living in Provo and was coming down for Thanksgiving. The
flight was fine. The guy from Enterprise came to pick us up. We were feeling pretty good and then we hit a big
snag. We passed by a cop who was clearly trying to catch people speeding and,
sure enough, he caught our driver speeding. It was a pretty awkward situation
because the driver was acting like the cop was being ridiculous, in fact he
even said that he was being ridiculous, but the cop was
actually really nice. Not only was the guy going 59 in a 45, but he also had no proof
of insurance, and hadn't changed his address with the DMV. So that was three
strikes against him. The driver called his boss and told him he was being
stopped for going 4 miles over the speed limit. We all knew better but we kept
our mouths shut. Suffice it to say, the driver got a much more lenient ticket that he deserved and the whole debacle kept me away from seeing my grandbaby, but I'll spare you the rest of the details. We got to the office and signed for the car and then we met Emily at Wendy's and
we got a big to go order for everybody. We got all of our food and drove over to Nathaniel and Audrey's
and we were super excited to see the baby. We all took off our shoes and washed
our hands in the first one to hold the baby was Daniel. I got some great
pictures of him and then Jonny holding Charlie. Then finally it was Michael's
turn. He got all choked up and it was super sweet to see him holding the baby.
I got plenty of turns today, too. Michael held Charlie while the rest of us ate
because he didn't care about his chicken nuggets getting cold. 
We hung out with them for a few hours. The kids
played some video games. They played a game called Boomerang and then they
played some Mario Kart. We had fun talking about movies. We picked up dinner at Canes and Don Joaquin's.
When we got back to Nathaniel and
Audrey's, I was surprised and touched that Michael had gotten two cookie cakes
and they were absolutely beautiful. We brought in all the food and Michael
requested that everybody sing happy birthday to me so that was sweet.
Emily took a video and pictures of the cake. They let me hold Charlie while
everyone ate. Audrey was grateful for that so she could eat. Once Audrey had
her cookie cake, I handed Charlie back so I could eat my tacos. By
the time I finished eating, it was after 9 PM so we said our goodbyes and left. Next, we
went over to Emily's apartment to get all the things for Thanksgiving tomorrow
to take to the Eldredges.
November 28, Thursday
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The day didn't start off very well, however. Michael back from breakfast and told me that
Jonny's eye was really red. Oh boy, was it! We didn't know what was going to
happen because we knew that Nathaniel and Audrey would be nervous about him
having an eye that looks suspiciously like it could be infected. I put in a
call to the pediatrician. We started strategizing what we could do. Since he had no fever, no drainage, and no other
symptoms, she said it didn't sound like pink eye. She thought it might be
allergies and that he should take some Zyrtec and maybe do a warm compress. We sent a text to Nathaniel and Audrey and
Karen and Emily to tell them what was going on. Karen said she would do
whatever Nathaniel and Audrey wanted and Nathaniel said that it was fine and we
could all still come to Thanksgiving. Whew! I made the crab dip and got
everything organized to bring over there and Michael and the boys got ready and
we got there a little before noon. When we
got there, I set out all of the appetizers. I had brought a little mermaid purse and some
lip smackers for Helena and a Grinch Switch game for Oliver and they were
pretty excited about that. Later, I gave them the Herd Mentality game and Tyler
unwrapped it and they all seemed excited to play it. Then I made
the cranberry relish. Karen let me use her food processor. I helped Karren as much as I could and also had some time
to hold Charlie so that was nice. After a while, she told the kids they could
play the Switch and they all had fun doing that and I got some pictures and
video.
I think it was right at 2 PM when we sat down to
eat. Brad said the blessing. We ate family style and passed the things around.
Karen asked everyone to go around and say what they were thankful for. I was so
glad she did that because that's our tradition. When everyone was done eating,
I got a little more time with Charlie and then I helped clean up. Andrew called
at about 3:30 PM, right before the basketball game started. We talked to him
for five or 10 minutes and then he had to go. Dad got on, too, so that was
nice. We helped clean up and then we relaxed a bit while the basketball game
was on. While the game was on, Dad called me
and we talked for a little while and then later Linda called me and we talked
for a bit. When the basketball game was finishing , Karen
got out all the pies and I helped cut them and we used the pie servers I had
brought. I had also had some serving spoons and tongs delivered from Amazon and
she appreciated that. The pie was really good. She made all homemade pies and
the crusts were amazing! After pie, we played some Jackbox games. First Quixort,
then Quiplash, then Trivia Murder Party. That was really fun. By then, it was
around 8 PM and Audrey said she was tired and they needed to get ready to go so
we all got ready to go, as well. Karen sent us home with a big bag of rolls
which was so nice of her.
We said our goodbyes and thanked them
profusely. As we were leaving, Karen made sure to tell me how grateful she was
that Daniel was sweet to Oliver and included him when they were playing video
games. He really is a sweetheart. We left at the same time as Nathaniel and Audrey. We
headed over to the hotel and got comfy. I opened the gifts from Emily and
Michael and the card from Jonny. Emily got me a cool little desk organizer set.
Michael got me a gorgeous necklace. It looks exactly like a diamond tennis
bracelet but as a necklace and at first, I was confused because I was hoping it
wasn't actual diamonds. I was kind of in shock. It was weird because when I
first saw it, it almost looked like pearls but then when I looked closer, I saw
that they looked like diamonds. I put it on and I went to look in the mirror
and it's absolutely gorgeous. He said that it was actually white sapphires but he compared it to the diamonds
and you can't really tell the difference but the price was significantly lower. Daniel has a gift for
me but it's at home. He had mentioned that when we were home and that it would
be hard to bring on the trip so I said don't worry about it and I'll open it
when I get back. Last night while everyone was finishing up
their dinner and eating cookie cake and I was holding Charlie, Nathaniel and
Audrey told me about their gift for me. It's a date experience where we do a
chocolate and vinegar tasting on Friday night at 8:30 PM. It sounds really fun
and I'm excited about it. Overall, it's been a wonderful birthday. I got lots of texts and phone
calls and tons of birthday wishes on Facebook. I feel so blessed!
November 29, Friday
We got ready for
the day and headed over to Nathaniel and Audrey's. Emily was going to meet us
there. Jonny was dying to hold Charlie and he had a
turn for over an hour.
We had Panda Express for lunch. Emily and Jonny went
to pick it up and Daniel had a turn with Charlie. We left around 1:30 PM
so we could go to our movie with Moana 2 which started at 1:50 PM. The movie had a weird plot but it was still
a very cute movie.
Nathaniel had homework so they went home and we went to the BYU Bookstore. Jonny looked at a lot of options for hats and
finally chose a good one. I found a little mini Christus statue
for Andrew and then we walked over to where all the BYU paraphernalia was and
got him a sticker and a tie. After that, we decided we should go to dinner. By
then it was about 5:30 PM. We drove over to Nathaniel and Audrey's to pick up
Emily's car. We were debating between Golden Corral and Chuck A Rama. After
much debate, we finally decided on Chuck A Rama and I'm glad we did because I
really like it there. I feel like their stuff is more homestyle than Golden
Corral. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice meal together. Then we headed back to the
hotel and relaxed for a little bit. Michael and I got ready to go on our date
to the chocolate tasting that Nathaniel and Audrey bought for me. Emily, Daniel
and Jonny hung out at the hotel and watched TV and played Trivial Pursuit. I
enjoyed the chocolate tasting. It was a fun activity and something totally
unique. The store is called the Taste
117, because 117 north is the address on University. It's a really cute little
café.
We headed back to the hotel and the
kids were playing video games. They had gotten out the snacks and they were
having fun. They finished their game and we had our family prayer and said our
goodbyes to Emily. It's been a wonderful day!
November 30, Saturday
Emily
came over to our hotel at 10:30 AM. We finished getting ready and we read the
last chapter and a half of Ether. We had a prayer and we got ready and left for
Texas Roadhouse. The plan was to meet Joe and his family at 11:30 AM. Their
family was getting out of the car right as we pulled up. So, we all walked in
together. The girls were a little
wary of us as they always are but they warmed up pretty quickly when I gave
them a little present. By the end, little Veronica let me hold her hand to walk
outside. Anyway, we had a very nice lunch with them. We talked about their jobs
and Delilah's dance classes and the fact that Veronica still has to get checked
out often for her kidneys. I showed them pictures of Charlie and
also some pictures of Betsy and Joe when they were little and they got a kick
out of. By about 1 PM it was time to go and say our goodbyes. The girls even
gave me a hug.
We stopped at the hotel so Emily could get her car and her
and Jonny got the Costa Vida food for Nathaniel and Audrey while Michael and Daniel and I went upstairs
to put our Texas Roadhouse leftovers in the fridge and
then we all met over at Nathaniel and Audrey's. They had invited us to come
over and hang out today after our lunch so that worked out perfectly. They still wanted us to watch Charlie while they went to pick out a
Christmas tree. We had talked about it yesterday and we offered to do that for
them and they seemed grateful. Audrey fed Charlie and then she was ready to go. So, they went. We held Charlie and watched The
Prestige while they were gone. Charlie was perfect. I only changed his diaper
once and he slept while we held him. After the movie, I ordered some KFC and Emily and
Jonny went to pick it up.
Soon after that, Emily and Jonny took
Michael to the hotel to get his coat and hand warmers and all that and then
dropped him off as close as they could to the stadium. They stopped at Emily's
apartment to drop off her leftovers and get the pirate shirt I had ordered for
her and then they came over to Nathaniel and Audrey's. By then, it was almost 8
PM and they were pretty tired and planning to stay home and watch the football
game. It was getting late so we said our goodbyes to
them and to Charlie and headed back to the hotel. We watched a few minutes of
The Truman Show, two episodes of Abbott, and then they watched Across the
Spiderverse and played cards. Then we said goodbye to Emily and got ready for
bed.
December 1, Sunday
Michael got back from the game at about 12:20 AM. He says
it took him 40 minutes to get from the stadium to the hotel. It was funny because we saw a lot of of the same people on our
flight back that we saw coming to Provo. I feel so
blessed we were able to go on this trip!
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