A long time family friend got married the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I was able to fly down to Southern California and meet up with some of my family to go to the wedding. I didn't want to take my camera on the plane, so a lot of the pictures in this post (and all the ones before Thanksgiving day) are Heather's. Thanks for sharing, sis!
It was a beautiful day and ceremony. We had fun trying to squeeze into a picture together with some of the scenery in the background.
The reception was lovely with delicious food and a celebratory atmosphere.
Finally we were able to congratulate Garrett and meet his beautiful bride, Hannah. I was so glad to be able to be there for the big day and celebrate with such a special couple.
After the wedding, we drove back to Visalia, making it a very long day since I had to be at the Portland airport at 5am that morning. The rest of the Ghent family drove up to spend Thanksgiving week with us on Sunday after finishing up with wedding things. It was so much fun to catch up with Vickie, Brenna, and Warren and spend time together. It did make for some crowded dinners though, including Tuesday evening when the kids had a picnic in the kitchen.
We mostly relaxed around Mom and Dad's house visiting and going on walks, but we also had time for a couple projects. One morning, Evan and I spent some time sewing together. Joshua drove down from Oregon Tuesday and I was so happy to see him again when he arrived around midnight.
On Wednesday, Heather and I were privileged to go with Michelle to her ultrasound. I had never seen an ultrasound before and it was amazing.
Thanksgiving morning was the Race Against Hunger. It had been a couple years since I last participated in the race and it was a lot of fun. I enjoy starting the holiday that way. This is the runners before we started.
And here we are after we finished. Heather, Natalie, and I ran the 5K together and had a good time. We made it all the way, with a little walking, and Natalie did a great job.
Here's the whole group of walkers and runners after we were done.
We all met up again later that afternoon at Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner. But before dinner, we enjoyed some fall colors and had a baby reveal.
When Michelle had her ultrasound on Wednesday, the nurse was pretty sure she was able to find out the gender, even though it was early in the pregnancy. We all had to look away from the screen while she looked and then she wrote it down so that Michelle and Jonah could find out together.
So, the next day they brought a piñata to Thanksgiving dinner that was filled with blue or pink candy. Starting with Emery, the kids got to take whacks at it.
Evan never got a turn though because Micah smashed it open.
Blue!
We are looking forward to meeting our new nephew next May.
Then it was time to be thankful and feast.
After dinner, and between glasses of Isaac's homemade eggnog, we took a picture with Vickie and Brenna. The two of them and Warren had to leave early the next morning. We were so glad they were able to spend Thanksgiving and then some with us.
We spent our Friday morning looking for Christmas trees. It actually didn't take much of the morning though because we went to Home Depot and quickly chose trees.
All the kids had to hang out in the trailer with the trees for a little while. Then we went to the Nickell's house for yummy Thanksgiving leftovers, including pie and eggnog.
Friday afternoon we drove up to Modesto and met up with the family at Joy's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was quite the spread, with possibly the best turkey I've had. The cranberry relish was also particularly good this year.
We had quite the group there too, but managed to all get a picture together. It was a wonderful meal and evening. We had planned to leave Sunday morning, but there was a big storm heading our way and we were worried about the passes being closed. So we ended up leaving Saturday instead. But not until after lunch so that Joshua could be part of the sausage making day at Uncle Jimmy's. The men all gathered and made sausage together, then the rest of us joined them to eat sausage and potato salad for lunch. We got some snow on the drive home, but were able to mostly beat the storm and arrive home safely.
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