THANKGIVING EVENT 1:
Hunting for the Christmas Tree
TRADITIONAL: We usually get our Christmas tree over Thanksgiving Break, and this year was no exception. We took the truck and went up to the mountains above Williams Lake to cut down our Christmas tree together.
NON-TRADITIONAL: We picked out our Christmas tree on the Sunday BEFORE Thanksgiving, instead of the day AFTER Thanksgiving like we normally do, because Ammon was heading to Boise after Thanksgiving, and we wanted him to participate in the activity with us.
Also, normally Josh drives us, but since his ankle was recently broken, I drove the truck. I don't drive this truck very often, and I couldn't get close enough to the accelerator pedals due to the bench seat I shared with Josh (he has much longer legs than me), so whenever I pressed down on the accelerator with my foot, it was only my toes that were pushing it, which didn't make for a steady drive on the mountainous road, and everyone was complaining--the dog even crapped a couple of times in the bed of the truck as a result!!
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| Jonah held the tree steady as Ammon cut it |
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| Jonah carried the tree up to the truck |
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| Josh stayed pretty close to the truck due to his boot! |
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| Ammon & Kanyon wrestling in the snow |
THANKGIVING EVENT 2:
Going on a Road Trip
TRADITIONAL: Usually, we alternate spending Thanksgiving with either my family in Utah or Josh's family in Salmon. Sometimes, we take trips over Thanksgiving instead--like the year we went to Disneyland, or last year when we went to Mexico. This year, our road trip was to Anaconda, Montana to stay overnight in the lodge and soak in their hot springs. We chose to go to this location because it was fairly close to home (2 hours away) and was also nice enough to feel like a destination vacation, since we couldn't travel far (due to COVID restrictions and Josh's broken ankle). We relaxed in the hotel, went out to dinner, soaked in the hot pools, watched TV in our rooms, and the boys played board games.
NON-TRADITIONAL: Normally, Josh and I go to Hot Springs locations without the kids. There are a few exceptions to this, like when we went to Lava Hot Springs on vacation or to Crystal Hot Springs for family reunions. Now we know why we normally don't take the boys: they don't enjoy hot springs like we do! Micah was the only one who soaked with us on Wednesday night, and I basically threatened the boys to soak with us on Thursday morning before we left, or they'd have to pay for their portion of the stay!
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| Our hotel room was adjoining with the boys' room. |
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| Their indoor pools are huge! |
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| There's multiple pools outdoors, too! |
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| Micah soaked with us until it got dark. |
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| When we got back to the hotel room, we found the other three boys playing one of Ammon's favorite games called "Carcassone". |
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| We drove into dinner in Butte to a cool restaurant called "Sparky's Garage". |
THANKGIVING EVENT 3:
Board Games
TRADITIONAL: I love playing board games! Whenever we get together with friends or family, board games are my go-to! I have a love/hate relationship with Monopoly. I loved it when I was younger, but I hate it now that I'm married to Josh (he beats me TERRIBLY at it)! Thankfully, the kids will play it with him! Josh and the boys had a Monopoly marathon (which usually occurs over holiday breaks) after we got home from Anaconda, while we were waiting for the turkey to cook. Ammon won, which traditionally happens!
NON-TRADITIONAL: Usually, the T.V. on Thanksgiving is tuned into the Macy's Day Parade all morning, and then NFL games all afternoon/evening (in between the big meal--we shut off the T.V. for that, of course!). However, because we got home from the overnighter trip early in the afternoon, we missed the Macy's Day Parade. And when the boys were playing the board game that afternoon, they decided to watch college basketball rather than professional football, which was unusual!
THANKGIVING EVENT 4:
Turkey Dinner
TRADITIONAL: I had decorated the house earlier in the month with our traditional Thanksgiving decorations, but after we got back from Anaconda, I got to work setting the table as dinner was cooking. I like to set out table decorations and use the goblets for special holiday meals. Since it was just us for dinner, Josh and I only made what the boys wanted and liked to eat: turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing, rolls, and cream corn. We also had sparkling cider to drink and pumpkin pies for dessert.
NON-TRADITIONAL: It was a very quiet dinner. Usually, we join other family members for the big meal. This year, due to COVID, my parents weren't hosting a big get-together, and Josh's parents went to Pocatello to have Thanksgiving dinner with Tiffany's family. It was the first time we've ever had Thanksgiving dinner at home by ourselves!
Also, our meal traditionally includes a multitude of other food choices, including broccoli salad, cooked yams, marshmallow salad, cranberry sides, or appetizer trays. However, it made it easier for me not to have to worry about cooking/making/preparing additional foods for just the 6 of us, especially if the boys wouldn't have wanted to eat it anyways!
THANKGIVING EVENT 5:
Family Time
TRADITIONAL: Usually after the big meal with family, we relax and hang out together, either playing board games or video games, watching T.V., talking, and/or taking naps. We usually spend the weekend doing things with family, like attending the cheerleader's bazaar or getting Christmas trees or seeing the Lights Parade or going shopping. I love that Thanksgiving is a family-oriented holiday! Unfortunately, we didn't get to do any of those things this year, or see any other member of Josh's family besides his grandma that weekend (we took her some dinner later in the day, because she wasn't feeling up to coming to our house to eat), but we did get to see my family. However, we didn't see them in person, we visited together via Zoom--which is becoming our new normal, as we've tried to have a family meeting on Zoom once a month since last spring.
NON-TRADITIONAL: Our "normal" family monthly Zoom Thanksgiving weekend got changed up; we had a special holiday edition instead. Lisa put together a slide show of past and present Thanksgiving photos that members of our family sent her. It was so fun to see all the photos! We laughed, reminisced, and it was nice to share memories of times when we were together since we couldn't be together this year!
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