Happy Thanksgiving Vacation!

On Monday we left before the crack of dawn (we got up at 4:30am and were out the door by 5am!!). We made one stop for gas and no potty stops. We made it to Vacaville in a record 6 hours and 10 minutes!

As soon as we unloaded N8 went for a quick run (it's an addiction I tell you!) and then it was off to the mall. We're not normally mall people but it was necessary. We all picked our favorite placed to eat at the food court and then headed to Men's Wearhouse. N8's suit was a good 2 to 3 inches too big and wearing. He picked a suit and they altered it there on the spot. We did a little more shopping and then the runners picked up their bib numbers and tshirts for the turkey trot.

Then is was to Costco and Sonic!

Later that evening we headed to the outlets and got N8 new dress shoes and work shoes. We were off to a good shopping start!!

My dad arrived late that night (after a 3 hour delay!).

Tuesday we headed off to San Francisco!!

It was a CRAZY drive, including an extremely steep road that we had to lean forward just to see over the hood of the van!!

We ate lunch (most people getting clam chowder, I opted for a pulled pork)

We took some great pictures over the bay

and the sea lions

And then we headed to the Golden Gate Park. It was awesome! A carousel,  a great cement slide and awesome rope climb!

Wednesday was full of shopping and cooking for Karen and I. The men took the kids on a hike!

Then we headed to dinner to celebrate Ray's birthday!

Thanksgiving morning we had a group of 6 running the turkey trot! 5 ran the 5k and 1 (N8) ran the 10K. They all did awesome and PRed and/or made their goal!

Then it was off to cook the turkey and all of the fixings! It was a great Thanksgiving dinner!

The kids taught grandpa how to play Mario Kart!

Some of us headed on a bike/walk to the park to work off the dinner before having presents and pie for Ray's birthday!

Karen and I headed to Old Navy for some quick black Friday shopping and then called it a day! On Friday we did a bit more shopping, went and saw Frozen (awesome!), N8 picked up his brother and we got frozen yogurt!

On our way home we dropped Brent off and then took a different route which took us past Lake Tahoe!

A

And luckily there was a Costco in Carson City!

All in all a great Thanksgiving trip!

Now the craziness of December has begun. All of our decorations are up and ready. As I pulled everything out I found myself steering away from the Santa stuff and making special spots for all of my nativities. The reason for the season. At church we have 2 lovely ladies that are investigating and learning more about the church with their family. It has been inspiring for me to see them yearn to learn and question the Gospel. I know my Savior lived and died for me and am grateful for this time of year when we celebrate his birth!