Thanksgiving with the Skousen's

Happy Thanksgiving!  

 

Today was a great day!! We woke up early and headed to the Turkey Trot.  It was so tough! Stephen ran a super fast 23 minute 5K and I ran a 26 minute 5K!  Craig, Blair, Jared, and Faith all joined us on the hilly course.  It was so hard.  We ran three big hills that felt like they were trying to torture us!  It was so fun to have my two brothers come and run with me.  

Craig and Blair hosted Thanksgiving at their house.  It was awesome.  Landon made the turkey and my dad made his own turkey.  All the food was delicious.  We played games after dinner then headed to the movies, where Edward was working.  Stephen also had to go to work that day but got off just in time to come to the movies with us.  

 

Friday, I made everyone get together for a Christmas photo so we could make our Christmas Cards early.  It was a very fun and relaxing weekend.  I missed my sisters and hope I can see them sometime early next year.   The boys helped me put up the Christmas tree!!  It is so huge!! I love all of our traditions.  They bring me so much joy this time of year.  

 

Thanksgiving with the Barnes

 Sunday, we drove over to Snowflake, Arizona to have an early Thanksgiving with Stephen's parents.  Edward didn't get work off so he stayed home to watch Pearl.  Edward has been super loyal to his job and I am incredibly proud of him for being a good employee.  We got to Susan and John's house in the afternoon and just talked the evening away.  The food was delicious and it was great to get to know Sonya's children.  They are all so cute!  Such a fun weekend.  

 

Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving 2024 was a bit different.  Well for starters, my mom is gone.  So she wasn't here to celebrate with this year.  We also aren't running cross country this season so we didn't have a turkey trot to attend.  So, I made my own turkey trot and had everyone come out and walk or run or bike around the neighborhood.  I pushed Craig to the max and he ran the three and a half laps around the neighborhood for his 3.14 mile turkey trot.  We ate at Craig and Blair's house this year.  Nolen at nothing and Edward ate very little because they both do not like thanksgiving food.  I like the desserts so I saved room to eat a lot of pie! Stephen had to work at 4:00 so we ate and played a fun game of Aquire.  I lost.  Stephen was able to come home from work and take a two hour break.  So we watched a show together and just relaxed.  It was a very nice way to spend a holiday.  I miss my mom and her laugh.  Her smile.  Her energy.  My life will never be the same.  

I made sugar cookies and the boys decorated them.  We took them to our neighbors as a gift for the holiday.

Nolen hates thanksgiving food so I took him to circle K to pick out some food he wanted to eat.  Looks like my kind of dinner! We also watched space balls together.  I have never actually seen the show. 

Saturday, Craig called in to get a tour of Stephen's work.  We picked up a bunch of bagels and brought them in for his coworkers.  Stephen gave us a tour and we got to meet a lot of his coworkers for the first time in more than 16 years of working in Albuquerque.

Blair and I went black Friday shopping in our matching outfits!!  It was so fun and hilarious.

Thankful Thanksgiving with Family

 Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holiday's because we get nearly an entire week off from school and we get to just relax!  Edward and Nolen are not into eating thanksgiving food so I don't feel obligated to make anything special.  I do try to make Susan's cheese ball and my favorite apple pie every year.  Those are the only two things I like to eat.  

I forced my entire family and Sharla to come and run a turkey trot.  I convinced Craig and Blair to run last year but they were too sick this year to join us.  Don't worry, there is always next year! Nolen was super sick so he walked.  Sharla and Edward ran a mile together while Stephen and I ran the 5k.  This was one of my slower 5k's in a while but that is just where I am at in my life.  

After the race, we headed over to my parents house to eat dinner.  John had worked hard on making a delicious dinner.  He was so kind.  Later, we saw his aggressive side when we played a round of "jumpin uno"! HA!  We went around the room saying what each of us are thankful for this year.  Most of us were thankful for our time with family.  I just love my time with my parents.  They are incredible.  I just love them.