thanksgiving trip

We were feeling adventurous this Thanksgiving so when Joseph's sister Kate invited us to come have Thanksgiving with them up in Rexburg ID, we accepted. We had an INCREDIBLE Thanksgiving dinner. Kate is an amazing cook and did a good job with her first turkey and all the fixings. As we were finishing up all the food we began to realize that we had WAY TOO much food. But when it's really delicious, it doesn't matter. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and relaxing.

On Friday we decided to stay up at the hotel where Kate works called Destinations Inn. (It's so beautiful! http://www.destinationsinn.com we stayed in the Thailand room.) Isabel was so excited to stay and have a slumber party with Kate and Jason. She got her toe nails painted, watched movies and ate a lot of snacks. She said it was one of her favorite parts of the trip. It was the first night since we had kids that one of us was not with our kids. We really appreciate Kate and Jason for letting us have a super date night.

Saturday as we were taking everyone out to dinner to thank them for hosting us for the weekend (Kate and Jason and Bekah and Scott who we stayed with Saturday night), our car kinda broke down. My uncle Ken lives in Rexburg and drove his auto-mechanic neighbor out to our car to check on a few things for us. He was hoping to find some little thing wrong, but didn't and thought it was probably something major. Bekah and Scott offered their new car for us to drive back home so Joseph could get to work. So, we had decided to leave our car at my Uncle Ken's house and they would take it to the Toyota dealership in town for us and we would drive Bekah's car home. As we were getting ready to leave we felt like we should just take our car and try to make it home to our trusted mechanic here. Well, our car broke down just outside of Pocatello at a port of entry station. The workers there were all from Pocatello and very helpful. They recommended a good towing company and also a really good mechanic. So, Bekah and Scott then drove a little over an hour to us with both their cars and let us take their new car and they drove home in their old car. So, after about a two and a half hour delay we were back on the road home.

We were sad to learn that our 2001 Toyota Corolla with almost 64K miles needed a new transmission (it's NOT an automatic). We joked that we should have taken our 1989 Corolla with 250K miles on it instead because it's so reliable. Aren't Toyota's indestructible? This is why I bought one...well, two actually! Anyway, things worked out and we feel very blessed for all those around us who are so willing to help.

So, I've noticed that my kids help me remain calm whenever there is some crisis or emergency. Isabel, Ansel and I got a flat tire about a month ago. We walked a block to my friends house then went back to change the tire. But, the whole way Isabel was skipping and making Ansel laugh like this was just a normal fun part of our life. I love to see the world through the eyes of my little daughter..... where we don't have to be in a huge hurry, we can just play and enjoy every second of life because that's really what it's for.