Thanksgiving and the Big Barn Adventure

For Thanksgiving this year, we did what we always do... eat at home and make our own turkey with all the trimmings. It is wonderful to eat on your own time schedule and to lay down in your own bed afterward and take a nap! James and I went to check out some Thanksgiving night sales, but the crowds were insane and we spent a whole total of $11.

Happy and full of Thanksgiving dinner!

We tried a new dish this year--stained glass jello. It tasted better than it looked. 

But, the day after Thanksgiving we did something out of the ordinary--we went to my sister's house in Utah for another Thanksgiving dinner! Marian and Vern had just bought and moved to a new home and it was big enough to accommodate us all. It was a nice chance to see all the family. James couldn't go because it was black Friday and a big sales day for him at the shop, but the rest of the family drove down to Lewiston, Utah. (We almost didn't get out of town... our battery was dead when we went to leave, so we had to have a neighbor give us a jump. Thankfully we then were driving for two straight hours so the battery charged up and never gave us problems for the rest of the weekend... just the next week when we had to buy a new one.)

Look at all the cousins! From left: Janessa, Afton, Zach, Abby, Sophie, Taylor, Thomas, Sam. On couch: Bridger, Jonny, Carter, Josh. Behind couch: Jim and Augie. Not pictured: Jace.  So all but 2 (Jim and Sam) are age 9 or under, with 3 babies. 

The next day we all recongregated back at Marian's for breakfast. Afterwards all the kids were itching to get outside--it was chilly but not super cold, so I decided to walk with them across a couple of empty crop fields to a big, wooden barn.

The little tree is in Marian's back yard... in the background is the barn, the destination for adventure. 

To the west is the old abandoned sugar beet factory... maybe an adventure for another time. 

 I started out walking, and Sam joined me. Then Abby and Taylor wanted to come. Then Jim came along, then Augie, Bridger, Carter, and Johnny, and finally Zacky joined in, too. So I was like the pied piper leading all the children away. :) After about 10 steps I realized that we all should have had chore boots--the mud was thick and clingy and we had an extra 5 pounds of sludge clinging to each foot.

After crossing one field, we stopped and looked at the neighbor's alpacas, chickens, goats and rabbits.

Sam loves Llamas, so he was happy to meet their cousins the alpacas. 

Then we went on to the barn. I loved the gray, weathered wood, the sloping roof, the old silo and the broken-out windows. Behind the barn a couple of horses were pastured, and the kids wanted to pet and feed them. We also wandered along a drainage ditch/creek where a lot of cattails were growing.

Our adventure team!

I love the aged wood and the sagging roof... this barn has so much character.

Playing with cattails. 

A shower of fluff!

Visiting the horses. 

After our trip to the barn I spent a good hour scrubbing shoes... Marian's utility sink saw its fair share of mud! We all went home with semi-clean but wet shoes. It was a short trip but one full of memories.

I just like this picture of Ninja Augie, so I had to put it on. :)