Family Pictures 2014

Our Unconventional SLC Thanksgiving

We had such a fun Thanksgiving weekend this year!  It was all very unconventional, but if we were ever going to do something different, this seemed to be the year to do it!  We thought we would just do a small dinner at home, assuming Heather and her family would be with the Yospes, Bree was going to CO, and Javi and Annalece would be with her family.  But Annalece mentioned one night how much she'd love to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the Grand America in Salt Lake, and before we knew it, we'd made reservations and booked a couple nights at the Little America across the streets as well!  Why not, right?!  She and I were both thrilled with the idea of not having to cook or clean, which I really wasn't looking forward to doing in our little kitchen...  So, off we went for a weekend away in Salt Lake!

It started off a little rough with a tailgate lunch in the parking lot of the Dollar Tree. :)  We'd met up to watch a movie (Big Hero 6) in American Fork on our way to Salt Lake Thanksgiving day, and when the movie got out we realized we still had a few hours before our dinner (it wasn't until 6:00) and we needed something to eat, but everything but the Dollar Tree had closed for the day.  So here are Annalece and Javi preparing our glamorous Thanksgiving lunch!

We got to our hotel in plenty of time for the dads and kids to swim while I stayed back to get ready and have Owen take a nap.  But, of course, he didn't, and just enjoyed sitting in the big hotel bed looking all slick and watching cartoons until it was time to go.

Here we are at the Grand!  Happy Thanksgiving to us!

 

We had made reservations for the three course meal - apparently there's a buffet that's to die for, but it was too pricey and all sold out...  Our meal, though, was fantastic!  We had a salad and then a choice between turkey, prime rib, and a couple other things.  I chose the prime rib and the others chose the turkey and we were all so pleased!  The best part was the dessert buffet at the end!

The kids got to choose foods from a special kids buffet, and of course my kids had to pick the corn dogs!  They thought it was the coolest thing!

After we'd all stuffed ourselves, we waddled back to the Little America and let the kids play a few games before going to bed.  Javi introduced them to Pick-up Sticks.

These two were so cute together.

Friday morning I couldn't resist doing some Black Friday shopping at City Creek, which was just a few blocks away.  I didn't go until almost 10:00, so I missed all the early-morning craziness, which was just fine.

Later in the afternoon, we did the Window Stroll at the Grand and got our yummy shortbread cookies.

We all loved checking out the toy store at the end.

Then it was about time to go up and see the lighting of the Christmas lights on Temple Square!  We took a few pictures around the hotel on our way.  I love my girl!

The temple looked gorgeous before the lights came on...

But then it really was spectacular!  I LOVE the lights on Temple Square!

The crowds were crazy, but the weather was wonderful!  It was the first time in years that we actually got to enjoy the lights and not freeze!

Afterwards, we took the train down to the Gateway and had dinner at Rumbi's.

I think the kids' favorite part of the whole night was just riding on the train!  Javi introduced them to train "surfing"... :)

We enjoyed some of the best hot chocolate around the fire in the lobby when we made it back to the hotel.  And then the kids went swimming one more time!  It was such a great weekend!  I don't think I'm ready to give up the nice coziness of a Thanksgiving at home every year, but I sure appreciated a break from cooking and cleaning this year!  It will definitely be a Thanksgiving to remember!

Swimming at the Clubhouse

One of the best parts about living in our town home again is getting to use the pool!  The kids would go every day if we agreed to it!  This night Javi and Annalece and Celine came swimming with us - or I should say Javi and Celine swam and Annalece and I sat and watched them all - and they had so much fun!  These pics are the cutest. :)