HoustonThanksgiving!

We had such a great Thanksgiving vacation! We were "30 minutes ahead of schedule" the entire time. ;) Well, at least that's what Matt would say anytime the kids asked "When are we gonna be there?"

We left Star Valley Friday and drove about 8 of the 24 hours on the first day (that is just driving time). This drive seemed to be the longest one. Kierra was pretty car sick coming out of the valley and so we ended up having to stop every hour and a half or so across Wyoming. Our normal, familiar I-80 took so much longer than it ever has before. Once we got out of Wyoming and into new territory it seemed to go much faster. The girls watched Hanna Montana over and over and over. Thomas was great just chillin' in his seat! We took this video as we were pulling into Denver.



We stayed that first night in Denver. The girls were pretty disappointed that we couldn't fly, but they had a blast staying in the hotels, swimming and eating in the hotel restaurants! It really was pretty fun! Hurray for Embassy's 2 room suites!!





Oh--and to again help them feel happier about driving instead of flying we bribed them with kids meals and play places!



We drove all day Saturday and stayed our second night in Dallas. We then drove the rest of the way to Houston, actually Katy, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. We were so excited to see Matt's brother and family! We have missed them so much since they left North Salt Lake! We played games--lots of games, swam, had "tub talk time", and us adults even got to get out for a couple of dates!! Their kids are growing up so fast! It was fun to see how much our kids LOVED to be with their cousins.

Monday the cousins still had school so Uncle Chad was so awesome to take us to the Children's museum! This was a cool museum with a little town for the kids to have jobs and earn and spend money. They really had a blast with it!



Uncle Chad was such a good sport! The girls were so excited to run around and see everything. I think we were all just so glad to be out of the car. Hopefully we didn't wear him out! ;)



I think Grandma Hoopes would be so proud of her girls here! They loved being on the Weather Channel!!











Monday for Family Home Evening we hung out in the coolest backyard ever!



Tuesday was SEA WORLD in San Antonio!!

Again, the kids just loved being able to hang out with cousins! I think this is where Jer and Kierra started becoming good buddies! Actually, everyone had a buddy this day. Of course Taylor, Samantha and Emily were pretty much inseparable the entire trip, but Jessica and Emily became good buddies here at Sea World. Then there was Caleb and Kaylee! They went everywhere together and were always about 10 steps behind the rest of us, just chillin' out and taking pictures! They were too fun to watch!








We had a blast on the rides! Kaylee surprised me big time! She sat in front of Matt and I on the Steel Eel and I thought for sure that she would be crying by the end of it. (I know I was about to--either that or puke!) Instead she and her cousin Caleb popped right out and were ready to go again. I think they went on it 4 times! Kaylee says when you go down the first hill you can't breathe!



We loved the shows too! I wish I had taken more pictures at the shows, but I was too busy staring in amazement! How do they train those huge animals to do all that they do?! It was unreal! (Sorry Carolyn--had to put the saxophone player on here!) ;)










That was quite the day! We ate at CiCi's pizza that night and drove back to Katy. (Taylor wanted me to mention getting balloons at CiCi's!) The next day we took off again, this time going to Brazos Bend State Park...an alligator park. It was pretty cool! We were able to see some alligators, snakes, turtles and other things. It was also nice to do a little hike and have a picnic!








THANKSGIVING DAY!!

Now....THAT is how you cook a turkey!



The kids had a great time setting the tables, with center pieces and all! They also put on a play and Caleb sang a song. It was another full day and tons of fun! We were so thankful to be with family!










This Kierra girl had a ton of fun! I think that she and Thomas were pretty well taken care of on this trip. They had older cousins that were so good to them. Here is a must see video of Kierra hanging out with Jer! (Kierra is a burping pro now!) :)



So, all in all it was one awesome vacation!! We even decided to stay an extra day to just hang out. This meant that we had to do the trip back in 2 days instead of 3 so that we could be back in time for school and work on Monday. Each girl cuddled up with her shamu and sea world blanket and a couple of times during the trip everyone slept at the same time (well except for Matt)! This was one of those moments! It was wonderful! Thank you Chad and Carolyn and gang!! Our first family prayer after coming home Emily got a little sad and said, "This used to be a bigger circle." :(

We love you and miss you!! :)