Thanksgiving.... and a lot to be thankful for..

Wow.. I cannot believe that it is the time of year again when we sit down to eat turkey and all the trimmings with friends. Thanksgiving morning was as beautiful as one could hope for on this special day.. clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine amid a very crisp cold air.. gorgeous! We started the morning with a semi lay-in (does 7.30am count?) and by 10.30 we were on the road south to the town of Hurricane with good friends Roger, Arlene and their 4 kids for an afternoon gathering at Roger's parents' place. The Olcott family are the most welcoming and friendly group you could ever wish for - they're simply awesome people and I am so happy that we got to spend our Thanksgiving with them. There were 17 of us sat down to lunch which was cooked to perfection and perfectly coordinated by Roger's dad. Around the table were us 3, Roger, Arlene and the 4 kids, Roger's sister Shay, her hubby and their 2 kids, my best work gal pal Becky (who is Roger's sister and my desk-mate at the Sheriff's Office), her husband Kyle and their 2 boys and of course Roger and Becky's parents who were such wonderful hosts. Owen had such a fun time with all the children, who although a lot older than him, included him a lot in their games and with a 'grandkid cupboard' full of toys, he was in his element. The home was all decked out gorgeous for christmas and looked really festive. Food was plentiful with the traditional turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and everything else you expect from a Thanksgiving feast... and there were 4 kinds of pie for dessert... wow, we were all very uncomfortably full to say the least, in a really good way! After clearing away the tables, we sat around talking and laughing and then decided to hit the stores for a spot of sale shopping, unfortunately the sales don't really get underway until tomorrow which is Black Friday - the most awesomest sale day of the year!, so anyways, we left the women shopping and 5 of us decided to start the journey North and for home. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to battle the crowds in the sales for what few bargains I can find, so let's hope the die-hard shoppers who will be at the store at 5am haven't pipped me to the post and taken everything by the time I get there at 10am or so!. Wish me luck! What a very fun and lovely Thanksgiving we had today with such wonderful people who we are so blessed to have each and every day in our lives. We have so much to be thankful for in our life here in Utah and I think that Thanksgiving is a really nice holiday to celebrate - there is no gift giving or commercialism (if you don't count Black Friday bargains!) like at Christmas, and the whole point of this holiday really is to get together with friends and family and to just enjoy being together and be thankful for everything we have.