Thanksgiving Broadbent Style-Part 2

A few more videos from our family gathering for Thanksgiving:

November = Birthdays

November is the month we get to celebrate both Sid & Amanda's birthdays! Since Sid's on his mission, we did our shopping for him early so that there would be time to ship his package. I've been adding last minute notes to Sid's envelopes lately. Well...his birthday package was no exception:

 

 

Amanda's birthday is a few weeks after Sid's. We were lucky enough to be able to be with her the night before and morning of her birthday this year. (So no boxes with messages all over for her.) We had a great visit and loved being able to stay and celebrate with her at her house.

 

 

Both were spoiled with things they needed and wanted. We are so lucky and blessed to have these two great children in our lives!

Thanksgiving Broadbent Style

My sister Ann and her children were going to be in Utah the week before Thanksgiving and requested a Thanksgiving gathering at Grandma (GaGa, Nama, or Noni-same person different names from the grandchildren) & Papa's house to celebrate together. Dan and I made arrangements to fly down (good thing see here). We arrived on Wednesday, November 17th...let me use Dan's summary to Sid since it's more concise and I'll add a slideshow of pictures to the end....

"Well, not to make you homesick or anything, but I am sitting at Amanda’s table typing this while Amanda and JaNae are making Sunday dinner. Now, you should know that the whole idea behind taking a Thanksgiving trip the week before Thanksgiving is to avoid the rushes and take time off when nobody else does. So, on Wednesday, at 1:00 p.m., JaNae and I flew to Salt Lake City where JaNae’s sister-in-law, Kelley, picked us up and took us to her and Kevin’s home in Syracuse, Utah. There, we spent the next couple of days. They gave us the use of one of their cars, which allowed us to do several things.

First, we visited JaNae’s grandpa in the Veteran’s home. He’s 94 years old and has lost his memory, so he never knows who we are, but he’s always glad for company, and you never know when the last time you visit him will be. Plus, there will come a day when his memories will be restored, and then he will know just how dedicated JaNae is to making him a part of her life!

Second, we picked up the last couple of presents for Amanda’s birthday, as well as a final gift for Kevin and Kelley, who we happen to have for Christmas. Thus, in our little jaunt to Utah, we got some family obligations taken care of (in a fun way, of course, because, after all, you know how much I love shopping!)

And thirdly, we went down to Lehi to see JaNae’s sister, Deborah, her husband Nic, and their two boys since Deborah is 8 months pregnant, and their family would not be making the trek to Cedar City for the big Thanksgiving celebration.

We traveled to Cedar City on Friday beginning at 2:00 p.m. when Kelley got off work. JaNae and I drove with her and their 6 year old son Cameron. Kevin and Nathan came later after a school dance.

Kelley travels in style. We had licorice, trail mix, and the new M&Ms, the inside of which are made of pretzels (not bad), and all of our munching was accompanied by the sounds of Elton John. (I know, not your idea of fun, but I was in heaven.)

The rest of Friday night and Saturday were spent with our pre-Thanksgiving preparations and eating them, plus a little football, a few games, and some conversation....

Sunday morning, we got up with every intention of attending at least Sacrament Meeting before heading back to Amanda’s. However, the weather report came, and there was supposed to be snow and ice all the way home. We changed plans, ate a quick breakfast at her parents’, and took off. Fortunately, the roads weren’t as bad as predicted. They even have some 80 miles per hour stretches in southern Utah, which we were able to take at full speed....

Now, Amanda has driven down the hill and picked us up in Syracuse to bring us to her home where we are spending the night and celebrating her quarter-century birthday. (See November = Birthdays.) She will be driving us to the Salt Lake airport early in the morning, and our vacation will be over.

The bottom line: It has been a great break, a great treat, a great reunion with the in-laws, and a great celebration with Amanda. Now, back to the grind!"

Whoops!

When your husband has only 1 pair of pants, 2 suits, and 2 white shirts left in his closet, ya think it's time to do laundry????

Working Hard for Our Money

A while ago I mentioned that I was working and was asked about my job. So I thought I'd do a general update on the four of us.

• DAN: He's busy working for Biomat USA. He is the facility manager for the center here. Since taking the position in January of this year he has had four audits! Thankfully they've done well with all four. He still has the theater itch and I suspect we'll be doing something again, however, he'll have to figure out how to work fewer hours so he can get involved with something like that again.
• JANAE: I work part-time at Knowledge Points. To get better involved with the community and make others more aware of Knowledge Points I was asked to help team teach an 8th grade class as part of the Junior Achievement program. (Oh, that reminds me I'd better get reading my lesson for tomorrow.) As if that isn't enough I also spend a few hours each week volunteering at Safe Harbor Crisis Nursery. I'm enjoying what I am doing and with my various activities I still have time to myself to do things I enjoy.
• AMANDA: She is one busy woman! Amanda is working as the Morgan County Extension Agent for Utah State University's Extension office in Morgan, Utah. She is involved with the 4-H program and teaching Family and Consumer Science classes. Additionally she is over the County Fair. When not swamped with fair season she is traveling to various locations (i.e. Maine, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii) to attend and/or present at conferences related to her field and degree.
• Sid: He is faithfully serving his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission. January will be his year mark! He is loving the work and the people (but I think he can do without the piles of snow and frigid temperatures). We anxiously await each Monday's email, love seeing the pictures he occasionally send home, and can't wait to visit with him on the phone sometime on Christmas Day!

Well, that's a brief update but it gives you a glimpse into our day-to-day lives.

OCD???

I've learned something since living in the Tri-Cities...Mother Nature has OCD

Look how neatly she lined up the leaves.

(These three pictures were only a few hours apart!)

 

These three pictures were taken the next morning. The trees had no leaves, they were all piled against our door!