The kids sang "This Land is Your Land" and "We Are Thankful" (to the tune of Frere Jacques):
We are thankful, we are thankful
For our families, for our friends
On Thanksgiving day, you will hear us say
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Then Miss Theresa read what each child was thankful for. 
One boy said his light saber, another said his favorite stuffed animal, lots of kids said their mom and dad. Kennedy had told me in the car a week ago what she was thankful for - Macy!
Mae Mae's mom, Amanda, said to me after the program, "I hope you got that on film because you might need to remind her of that one day." I'm thankful that Kennedy and Macy get along so well right now, but I suppose that won't always be the case. Macy had a great time running around the gym and dancing right under all the kids on the stage with her Dora and Diego dolls. I was also thankful that I could watch and enjoy the program without having to chase Macy everywhere!
After the program, we went to the Lady Ute basketball game. The girls didn't care much about what was happening on the court, but they did love the popcorn and balloons.
The half-time show with the Jazz trampoline dunk team was also pretty entertaining. I'm thankful that no one got sick from eating the spilled popcorn off the floor and there were no major meltdowns over popped balloons.
Thanksgiving morning we bundled up to face the cold and went to the zoo.
It wasn't very well organized this year, and it was too cold for the elephants to come outside. A cougar was very interested in watching Kennedy, and followed her every move. We did get to see turkeys eating their thanksgiving feast (a bit ironic, and not at all exciting), a crocodile snap at a pumpkin half, a tortoise slowly nibble at his, and the tigers play with their meat stuffed pinatas and pumpkins.
We headed home for nap time and food prep, as I was responsible for cranberry-maple sauce (my specialty) and veggies this year. I am thankful for the opportunity to build family traditions and memories with Jake and our girls.
We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings at Brent and Sue's. Then the kids got to go on a hunt for quarters hidden around the house so we could play a card game called "Get off the Bus." We missed Kari and Rainier, who decided not to drive from Las Vegas because of the big storm warning (which never really amounted to much - they even closed the U early on Tuesday in anticipation, but then it was business as usual on Wednesday), but we loved having Uncle Andy in town. We got to spend some time with him after dinner when we went up to my parents' house to finish off the night. We introduced Andrew and Jeff, who also came home from college at the Oregon Institute of Technology, to Power Grid, one of our favorite games. My family kindly agreed to postpone Thanksgiving dinner for one night, so that we could all eat together. I'm thankful that we got to spend time with our families and that we only had to eat one giant meal per day.
Black Friday was spent at my parents' playing games and cooking for turkey dinner, round two. Andrew wanted a Power Grid re-match. Kennedy wanted to play games, too, and watch Toy Story 3 for the tenth (or so) time.
Macy played with the potato heads and Snoopy dolls (vintage toys from my childhood). Then we packed everything up and headed off to Kathy and Tim's. Andrew brought his dog, Sid, along and she had a great time playing with Sage. All the food was delicious, especially my mom's sweet potato and apple dish. By 6:00, Andrew had to get on the road to drive back home to Boise, so we said goodbye and all headed out. We're definitely looking forward to spending more time with Andrew and Jeff at Christmas. I'm thankful for quiet days at home, and that I have no interest in fighting the crowds for day-after-Thanksgiving sales, preferring instead to leave holiday shopping until the last minute.
Saturday we braved the snow storm that finally came and went to dinner at my grandpa's house. We all pitched in to shovel his driveway, and when we went inside, Grandpa Ray had the fire blazing. It was so hot, and the gas from the fireplace filled the air because the chimney wasn't open. We ate our leftover turkey soup with all the doors open and the fans blowing to circulate the air. I'm thankful my grandpa didn't burn his house down and we didn't suffocate from carbon monoxide poisoning!
We have so much to be thankful for, and it's wonderful to take time to remember the good, the silly, the treasured, the big and the little things that make our lives so much better. But most of all, I know that Jake and I share what we're most thankful in life - family - his, mine, and ours.
Now it's time to gear up for Christmas, although we have a family rule - no Christmas decorating before December! And watch out because Kennedy is a stickler for this one. She told Grandma Sue that she needed to take down her tree because it's not Christmas yet. That doesn't mean that we can't go out and enjoy other people's decorating efforts. When we left the Weiler's on Friday night, we went to the Christmas Utah house. Macy loved it! She was sitting in Jake's lap while we were parked to watch the show, but she did her best to dance to the amazing music and light display.
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