Our Surprise Trip to Utah

Last Friday, we drove up to visit my family in Utah. We didn't tell them that we were coming and they were VERY surprised, to say the least! We left our house at about 1:30 p.m., and we arrived on my parents doorsteps at about 4:30 in the morning. Needless to say, we were slightly exhausted! But it was definitely worth every minute of the drive to see my parents so surprised and happy.

Lizzie and Bryce did very well on the trip. On the way there, they slept most of the way. When Lizzie wasn't sleeping, she spent her time reading her Toy Story and Dr. Suess books. She also sang songs with us. Over and over and over and over again. Fun times! :) We borrowed a portable DVD player from Jon's sister, however, we didn't even end up using it. Nothing short of a miracle, in my book. Bryce didn't cry much during the drive, thankfully. He only cried when he wanted to eat, which was about every 2 to 3 hours. Not bad at all. :)

It was so much fun to see my family and, as usual, we wish that we could have stayed longer. We could only stay until Tuesday because we had to make it back to our house for Thanksgiving. We weren't planning on traveling to Utah at all this year, and as a result, we had already made plans for Thanksgiving. We had invited a bunch of people over to our house for Thanksgiving dinner and we didn't really want to cancel at the last minute.

Anyway, here a few pictures of our trip...

A family picture before church on Sunday:

A picture with my parents:

Lizzie, with my brother, Craig, and his wife, Amanda:

My sister, Alyssa with Bryce and I:

Bryce and my Dad:

Bryce and my Mom: (Yes, they put there Christmas tree up a little early this year. My Mom wanted Lizzie to help decorate the tree. Which she did, but I don't have any pictures of it.)

We visited my Grandpa Turley on Tuesday and it was really great to see him. We missed Grandma a lot. That was my first time being in Grandpa's house since Grandma passed away and it was a little weird for me.

Bryce and Grandpa Turley:

Lizzie and Grandpa Turley:

Lizzie and Great-Aunt Willie:

Here is a picture of us and my Great-Aunts Jo and Willie. It was really great to see them as well.

I just had to snap a quick picture of Brycie-Boy in his cute church outfit:

Hooray! I was able to capture Bryce's smile on camera!!

On our way home, we stopped and ate at Chuck-a-rama. As you can tell by Lizzie's face, she couldn't have been happier!

Jon let Lizzie try some of his apple slushie. She loved it, of course. :)

Too cute...

Thanksgiving was great this year. Due to the fact that it was at our house this year, I was in charge of the Turkey. I learned that I should never trust the cooking directions on the turkey wrapper. When the directions say that it should take 4.5 to 5 hours to cook the turkey, it really means 8 hours. :) Jon ended up cutting the Turkey up prematurely and placing the slices in the oven by themselves in an effort to have at least a few slices of Turkey finished when the guests arrived! When all was said and done, however, the turkey turned out fine and the rest of the trimmings were FANTASTIC and DELICIOUS. :)

We had a house-full of people over and it was really fun. Jon's parents and Grandma came, of course. Jon's sister, Darlene, and her husband, Justin came. Justin's parents came. And my sister, Tara, and her husband Michael and their two boys came as well. It was so great to celebrate the holiday with so many wonderful people! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. I'm so forgetful sometimes!!

What a great week we had!! I am so incredibly blessed and feel such gratitude for the many blessings in my life. I feel so unworthy of my blessings sometimes and just hope and pray that I can do something to pay my Father in Heaven back for all of the things that he has blessed me with. I am truly blessed with way more than I deserve!!