thanksgiving 2015.

first of all, i did a horrible job keeping my camera with me during this whole weekend. so i took very few pictures and i missed so many good 'picture moments'. but it's a thanksgiving i won't yet forget. we originally planned to drive up to cokeville (wy) wednesday evening but a nice big blizzard rolled in and we decided, due to my nerves, to wait until thursday. james was able to go play in a turkey bowl with judd that morning so win-win for all of us.

when we finally got to my grandparents' it was lots of hugging, hello's, and my grandma's famous crab+celery+lettuce+cocktail sauce in clear plastic cups. my favorite! nothing hits the spot and doesn't fill you up too much before dinner like this delicious concoction. i love it more every year! kendall even liked it.

we knelt in prayer, all 70 of us, and then dished up. brooklyn was so excited to sit downstairs (without mom and dad) at the little kid table. she was in heaven, and loved mashed potatoes and gravy this year. she had seconds. 

kendall sat with james and i during dinner, and then eventually made her way over to grandma diane's lap at the big adult table.

dinner was excellent like every year. this picture makes me sad. i could literally dive right into that plate right now!

after dinner and dessert (of delicious homemade pumpkin pie!), all the "young married guys" and a few of the "young married gals", the kids, and a few other adults headed over to the high school gym. my grandma rents it out for big family things like this to give people something fun to do. the rest of the 'ladies' stayed home with the really little kids/babies to do what we do best = chat + eat delicious snacks. it might be my favorite part of our thanksgiving tradition. i love visiting with my grandma, aunts, cousins, and others that i don't talk to very often. we have the best time!

brooklyn and my cousin britt's cute little annie ended up in matching jammies. they thought it was pretty great! so cute!

meanwhile, james and brooklyn were having a blast at the gym (thanks for the pic manda!). brooklyn said they were being cheerleaders for the 'players' in this picture. she loves almost nothing more than playing with cousins. i literally saw her four times this whole weekend, hence the lack of pictures of her. she is independent and loves that she can just go play with cousins.

this cute judson gets all the heart eyes. i mean look at him! i had judson withdrawals after we go home. i love this chubby boy! 

about an hour after bedtime, james and my mom got a nice arm workout swinging cutler and kendall in duffle bags. cutler was out in five minutes. he loves it. kendall was too giggly to fall asleep.

two cute little toe heads!

we stayed up way too late, and then all the ladies headed to montpelier the next morning for our annual black friday shopping. sadly, ok more like devastatingly, one of our favorite stores closed, so we only had a few to hit up. but really it's all about the company. and it's the best.

the whole week was extra special because dev & kenz were home for thanksgiving. they didn't spend the actual holiday with us, but we got to spend lots of time with them. dev couldn't keep his nieces and nephews off him. they just love him! kenz was diligent to keep up on her studying (being in medical school and all) but the kids all loved her too. luckily, they didn't smother her like this.

i'm so proud of that brother of mine by the way. he found out this last week that he got into dental school! we are all so proud of him and can't wait for some free dental work! love you dev ;)

i feel extra bad because we got to have thanksgiving dinner again on saturday with james' family and i didn't take one picture. we got there early to help, and then were literally visiting and chasing our kids the rest of the time. i love visiting with james' aunts and cousins. such good fun people! i definitely need to enlist james' help in taking more pictures at these family events. that's fair right? 

anyway, our weekend was such a good one filled with so many people we love, delicious food, and so much to be thankful for. we really are blessed and can't imagine a better life than the one we've got!