Thanksgiving at the Hilton's

My family (with the exclusion of Mindy) all went to my sister's (Jan) home in Washington this year for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun! My parents flew in early Tuesday morning, I flew in Tuesday night and then took the shuttle up to Everett. It was the longest ride ever! I didn't get there until around midnight. Jan and Mom came and got me from there. Jon and his family left after his work and drove all night long. I think they arrived around 8:00 in the morning on Wednesday. Needless to say I think we were all exhausted before our vacation began. :) The girls were so excited to be together with their cousins.

Wednesday: We relaxed and took things pretty easy. The kids played outside most of the day.

Kristen, the boys, and I went for a walk down to Jan's boat dock. (Maybe I should have said Brad's dock.) It was foggy and we couldn't see much of the lake. If you look close enough you can see the ducks in the background.

Josie gave me my very own concert. I was sad that I didn't make it for her concert on Tuesday night. She has become quite the pianist. I'm so proud of her! I hope that she will continue. It was fun just to relax and share each others company. We wrapped the night up with Uncle Jon's favorite.... Teriyaki. You can't go to Seattle and not have any. :) It was tasty!



We also played Guitar Hero.... It's amazing how good the little kids are. They definitely put me to shame. I was booed off a couple of times. :( We made a couple of trips to Costco. Uncle Jon's new favorite place.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Mom and Riley got up early to fix the turkey.

The Lake was beautiful today.....

Here's the craft the kids did while dinner was cooking. They were so funny to watch.





Mom scoping out all the sales.

I can't believe how fast Thanksgiving came this year. The older I get the faster time seems of passing by. I have been blessed with so many things.

A Few Things I'm Thankful For:

1. My Family- I truly have been blessed with the best family. Love you all!!!

2. My friends- I have some amazing friends who keep me happy.

3. My job-I have the best boss ever! I'm so thankful that for all that he does for me. Especially for my paycheck... so I can pay my mortgage. :)

4. My dog- Someone (ok... something) that loves me unconditionally and is excited to see me each day.

5. My health- I've been fortunate to be healthy and each year I get older I realize how important that is.

6. Gospel- I'm so thankful for the gospel and the knowledge that if we live righteously and follow Heavenly Father's plan that we will be able to live with him again.

7. The modern day work conveniences- I know that I have touched on this before but, I'm so thankful for this one. I would not have been able to move so far away from home if not for this. :)

Dinner was delicious! Jan did an outstanding job! We started with appetizers. Then we had turkey with all the fixings (mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, corn, sweet potatoes, rolls, fruit salad, and cranberries).

Friday: The girls went shopping. We really didn't go too many places, but we definitely made some major damage in our checkbooks. :) I think we broke our record book... we were out shopping only for a couple of hrs. The kids were very excited about one purchase.

ROCKBAND

Uncle Brad putting it together. Notice he does read directions.

The rest of the day we had leftovers, which is my favorite part of Thanksgiving.

We played RockBand, & watched movies.

One of our traditions has been to go to the movies on Thanksgiving. I must say that I love the modern day world we live in. Brad ordered a couple of movies and the kids got to lay on Aunt Jan's bed and watch them..... NICE!

Saturday: Saturday was Hallie's Baptism. That morning we got ready for that. Took a "few" pictures.... which everyone was so happy to take! NOT!!! I'm going to post this separate. After Hallie's baptism we had some of her friends come over for lunch. That night we mainly packed.

We all had to play Rock Band one final time before the weekend was over. We stayed up until around 11:30pm. I know it doesn't sound that bad BUT if you have to be up the next morning at 2:30am... it's a little insane.

One last final picture of all the kids and Aunt Kerry before it was off to bed. The next morning came way to early for all of us.

The boys getting in the truck for their trip back home.

McKay was so sad. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay with Aunt Jan!

Thanks again Jan & Brad for the fun, food, and good times. We appreciated your hospitality.