thanksgiving

we ended up on our own at our own house for thanksgiving this year - which turned out to be just right.  ryan and the kids did some work out in the yard.  cody and isaac have worked hard on several occasions to rake up the leaves.  ryan helped the gather a pile just barely big enough to jump into.  we just don't have enough leafy trees for much leaf jumping.

i made a good veggie/cheese and crackers tray for our snacks and lunch.  the boys were not too thrilled that they weren't getting a real lunch and the olives were the fastest things gone!

we worked on thankful turkeys before dinner.  cody and isaac cut out all the pieces.  we had a pretty delicious spread with just enough leftovers.

on friday, we drove over to the grand canyon.  we stopped in flagstaff on the way to feed tyler and let the kids play.  how awesome is this swing?

bonnie climbed all the way up this crazy ladder by herself.  she's getting quite adventurous. 

isaac spent most of his time in this spider web climbing higher and higher and then asking me to take another picture of him higher than before.

we had no idea that the grand canyon was the destination of choice for pretty much every person in the western united states on the friday after thanksgiving.  we found one of the very last parking spaces in the very last lot available.

first thing we do at every national park is get the junior ranger books to work on.

even bonnie has to have one.

isaac had to test to make sure this rock really was bigger than he was for his ranger book.

we had to wait a good long time to get a picture since this was a popular spot apparently.  we look a bit different than a year and a half ago when we were here for the bishop family reunion!

i found an awesome hotel in flagstaff with two queen beds and bunk beds.  best. hotel. ever.  how has this idea not caught on?!

the next morning we hit montezuma castle

became junior rangers again :)

and tuzigoot

the view from tuzigoot was amazing.  the trees reminded me of a bob ross painting. "happy trees"

and junior rangers for the third time.  i love doing the books with the kids.  we all learn so much about the places we visit!

we drove home through pine and stopped to get ice cream.  ryan and i used to drive through pine all the time when we first got married and would go down to thatcher, but we haven't been back in a long time and we've never stopped for ice cream before.  perfect treat after a long day.