Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving for us out here in Virginia marks the beginning of several months of homesickness for our families in Utah. This time of year we are always thinking about them, and all the celebrations and traditions we miss out on being so far away. I can't help but think about seeing my whole family at Uncle Russ', sitting at our beautiful tables and joking about who has and has not graduated from the children's table. Or making the long, beautiful drive through southern Utah down to Blanding, sitting in mom and dad Carroll's house chatting or playing cards. We love being here in Charlottesville so much, but being this far away from family during the holidays is so hard!!

But being so far away from family has also taught us to be especially thankful for our wonderful friends here. They really are our family away from home, especially during this time of year! We spent this Thanksgiving with our good friends the Burtons and the Dahles. And we had so much fun! Here are some shots of our Thanksgiving...

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These were taken by the LM Marina on our way over to the Burton's (with the new wide angle lens- a fantastic landscape lens!! Please excuse the crooked horizon in #2- batch cropped that one) It had been raining off and on that afternoon which made for a gorgeous sky!

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Here is the cute centerpiece for the kid's table- made by April and the Burton gang. Check out the solid cheese stick-you can't have too much of a good thing! And Packer looking thoroughly entertained!! LOL

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The beautiful table- complete with beautiful china all arranged properly. I really admire anyone who can really 'set' a table. To this day I cannot remember what goes where without asking my mom first or consulting Google. Someday when we have a big enough home to really entertain in, I am going to patent a fridge magnet that shows how to properly set a table. Isn't that a genius idea? Please don't steal it from me- I really think I might be able to make some money off of it.

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The company pre-feast- Nate and Hillory, Craig and Craig's co-worker-friends-from-Isreal-whose-name's-escape-me (I think his name was Gal?)

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The bird: juicy and tasty!!!

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The post-feast chaos party. Here is Jake posing for the camera, while Ellie tries to steal his thunder.

And take a look at this one- can you say future Abercrombie&Fitch model? Watch out, Craig and April! (I hope not Abercrombie&Fitch, though- I detest that store for using NAKED people to advertise. I mean, HELLO, they are a CLOTHING store! Really too bad- because I really did like their jeans and that they ran big so I could wear a smaller size- always makes a girl feel better!)

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And last one of Tim watching Jace on the Bop-it. Jace LOVED this toy and could not put it down all night! I think Santa may be bringing him one of these for Christmas... And I spy paparazzi in the upper right corner (reflection)- Nate and his fancy new Canon 40D (which made me a little envious by the way- that is a nice camera!!)

Phew- that is all folks! I want to thank you again, April and Craig, for inviting us over- it was so fun and the food was great!! And I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!