Thanksgiving

There were a lot of Hendricks cousins in town for the holiday (all of Patty's kids and most of Jim's), so we had lots of occasions to spend time together. First was a game night at Rachel's house on Wednesday, November 22. We ate snacks, Miriam retired to the basement to hang out with Cooper and Maddy, the rest of us played games upstairs. Jackbox, as always, was a hit.

Kelsey and Winnie laugh and play games while drinking sodas at Rachel's.

We spent Thanksgiving day (November 23) at Grandma and Grandpa Scott's. This year I outsourced all my usual Thanksgiving prep since I had one arm still in a sling. Rebekah made rolls (and didn't kill the yeast despite not letting the milk cool down before adding it). Ana made pies. I sent Miriam and Winnie over to help Grandma Scott with whatever prep she needed. We ate a delicious meal.

Grandma finished telling us about a few of the dishes we were using for Thanksgiving. Some were from Marie, her mother, Some were from Martha and Alice, her grandmas. Some were from Annie, her great-grandma. 

Ana napping after the meal.

Rebekah napping with her head under the back cushion.

Seth napping on the floor.

Miriam reading.

The day after Thanksgiving (November 24), we went to Anne's house in Rexburg to eat pizza and spend time with all the Hendricks cousins. Mack would be speaking in church and starting his mission within days, so it was fun for the kids to interact with him before saying goodbye.

Cooper, Miriam, Winnie, Ana, Rebekah, Mack and a couple of Papworths playing games in the living room.

And the day after that (Saturday, November 25), we did our usual Christmas tree hunting, but not in our usual spot. We've been going by Fall Creek for as long as I can remember, but we've felt like the good trees are farther and farther from the parking lot and therefore harder to get to. Seth and I had gone a week or so before to scout out new possible areas. We found a good one just past Pine Basin that would not require any snowmobiles or four-wheelers, so we took the family there this time. 

Ana cut down the tree this year. Seth supervised and pushed.

Hiking back down the hill close to the road. There wasn't much snow.

Winnie getting a shoulder ride from Miriam.

Family selfie after getting a tree. My arm was (still, of course) in a sling, so I had to borrow Seth's big ski coat and zip it up with one empty arm of the coat flopping around. I fell headed down the hill and jarred my elbow, which made me stop and wallow in pain for a couple of seconds, but no lasting damage was done.

Then later that day we stopped by Grandma Susan's house to see Lizzie's brand new puppies. With Roscoe as the father, these are purebred labs. Grandma and Grandpa were worried when they all came out dark (Roscoe is a yellow lab; Lizzie is red) because they worried that another dog may have impregnated Lizzie and the dogs would be mutts, but it turns out that red labs often have dark puppies.

The puppies were residing in a plastic pool lined with an old sleeping bag in Grandma's office.

Miriam with a puppy.

Rebekah with a puppy.

Ana with a puppy.

Andrea with a puppy.

Seth with (guess what?) a puppy.

Winnie with a puppy. They made the cutest little squeaky noises.