Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving day this year was probably the most relaxing Thanksgiving we had ever had. We had ordered an entire prepared meal from Harmons that just needed to be heated up, so we didn't have to spend the whole day cooking. Instead we slept in, crafted, swam, napped, played games, went for walks and just enjoyed the day.

Mom had been gathering all kinds of candy for our special craft. She wanted everyone to help her decorate candy trees that she could display on her dining room table. We had so much fun and all trees were so unique, it was fun to watch everyones different creative processes.

I started by covering my entire tree with gold and red iridescent sprinkles, then glued on candy ornaments.

Both Beth and Ev went with a white, silver and gold theme.

Thomas was very proud of his cool spiral design.

They all turned out so cute!!

After crafting, it was time for swimming!

We had decided to have thanksgiving dinner in the evening, instead of in the afternoon like we usually do, which gave us lots of time for fun activities.

I brought disposable plates, utensils, glasses and table clothes to make clean up super easy. Our candy trees made for the perfect centerpiece.

Karin brought a fun interactive tablecloth for the kids table.

It was a huge hit, with both the kids and the adults.

The Burtons brought fun, fancy drinks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dessert time!

We had pumpkin pie, apple pie, triple berry pie, pumpkin cheesecake and ice cream. Something for everyone.

After dinner we played games and watched an episode of The Great British Baking Show.

Arriving in St. George for Thanksgiving

This year for thanksgiving, our entire family met up in St. George since it's almost halfway between Arizona and Utah. We stayed in the most amazing Airbnb, it was spacious and comfortable for our large clan of 19. Everyone got their own bed, which was amazing, and the common areas were big enough for all of us to gather comfortably.

There were lots of fun activities for the kids including a pool table, foosball, ping pong, a shuffleboard table, TVs in every room and a private pool and hot tub in the backyard.

It was so nice to be able to watch the littles swimming from the comfort of the couch with this large sliding door.

Upstairs was another luxurious couch set up and lots of bedrooms. There were 4 private bedrooms that each had their own bathroom, perfect for the 4 daughters. 

This was my room.

One of the major highlights of this Airbnb were the two amazing bunk rooms. One bunk room had 6 double beds, this was the boys room, all the burton boys plus Sam bunked in here and they all had a blast.

The second bunk room had 4 double beds, this is where Evie, Nora, Vienne and Monty slept.

The pool table was a huge hit, there was always a group playing a game. 

Monty was obsessed with the pool table and always wanted to be a part of the game. Ricky helped him play an entire game and Monty thought it was the coolest thing ever.

The pool and hot tub were the second most popular amenity. The kids went swimming everyday, they were in heaven.

On our first night, the Griffins organized a catered dinner from Costa Vida. It was the perfect meal, everyone loved it.

That night we celebrated John's birthday. His favorite dessert is pie, so as a surprise, Karin had picked up a bunch of mini pies from Flake for a pie tasting!

My favorite flavors were the cranberry, raspberry cheesecake and pumpkin.

We watched a movie every night after dinner. The first night, when only a few of us had arrived, we watched Spirited. The next night, when the whole clan had arrived, we watched Disenchanted.