This little Arave family had quite the Thanksgiving adventure....
We were planning on heading home to Idaho and saw that the weather was supposed to get really nasty. We decided to leave on Monday afternoon after Nelson's classes were over to try to beat the storm. Welllllll....we didn't quite beat the storm, but instead got stuck right in the middle of it!!!! We made it to West Yellowstone, our halfway point, only to find Highway 20 closed.
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| Sad face... |
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| Even sadder face... |
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Saddest face of all!!!
We ended up having to spend two nights in West Yellowstone, only to drive back to Bozeman. It was a little disappointing not being able to see our family, but we decided to make the best of the situation and have a wonderful Thanksgiving as a small family. It turned out to be a very special holiday, one that we will cherish and remember for years to come. |
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| Cute boy trying out his driving skills! |
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| Ashton in our hotel room! |
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| Ashton thought this mirror was the coolest thing!! I'm sure the maids loved cleaning all his little kisses off the mirror. :) |
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| Luckily, Nelson had plenty of time to get lots of homework done!! |
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| There were only two types of people staying at our hotel, cross country skiers and others who were stuck in the storm! |
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| I'm so glad I brought lots of books, they were a life safer for entertaining Ash! |
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| Handsome boy playing peek-a-boo with mommy! |
My heart is filled to the brim and overflowing with gratitude. It is difficult to explain the happiness and peace I feel because it is a matter of the heart. At times I am so full of gratitude for my
many blessings that I ache. It is a wonderful ache, the kind that is so satisfying and comforting. I just feel so much love for my sweet little family. I have the most amazing, selfless, handsome, and devoted husband. He completes me. He inspires me to be better each day as well as making me laugh. I love him so incredibly much. He is the best father to our Ashton. And, oh how I love our little Ashton!! What a sweet spirit we have been blessed with. I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What the Savior has done for me brings feelings of self-worth and hope. I'm grateful for our extended families; oh they are the best!!! I also feel a special awareness at this time for the health of my family members and my own as well. What a true blessing. In a world where so much is wrong, there is also much that is good.
As President Monson said this past conference, "This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways."
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| Our thanksgiving feast! |
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| Ashton ready to pray!! |
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| Sneaking in a taste of sweet potatoes!! Cutie! |
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| As tradition merits, we decorated our home for Christmas after Thanksgiving was over! |
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| Bitty boy lovin' the beads! |
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| Our tree!!! |
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| We decided to forgo breakable ornaments this year due to our mischievous friend Ashton and instead decorated with a music theme with trumpets and bells! |
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| We also strapped the tree to the wall (see the yarn??) so this aforementioned friend would not tip the tree over! |
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| I made some pumpkin bread and Ashton LOVED it!! |
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| Our little athlete! |
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| Ashton's new thing is taking Nelson's or my hand and leading us to different places. He makes sure we are never sitting on the couch too long! ;) We are always on the go! |
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| These pictures are getting older, but I wanted to make sure I document all of our fun!! This was our last nice day until the snow hit! Isn't he handsome?? |
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| We went to the park and Ashton had a BLAST!!!! |
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| I smile every time I look at this picture!! |
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| Pure joy!! |
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| Ashton trying out his bathtub hat from Grandma Pat! Hmm...looks like a hat my grandma might wear! :) |
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| SNOW!!! We had such a nice long fall and now it is definitely winter! |
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| Cute boy looking at all the snow! |
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| We bought Ashton some snow pants! |
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| Playing in the snow!! |
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| Sure love my cute boy!! |
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| "Come on Daddy!!" |
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| Ashton was so so excited about the snow! He kept clapping his little hands and exclaiming, "Yaaaa!!!" |
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| I love experiencing new things through Ashton's eyes!! |
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| No better way to end this post than with a picture of our sweet angel boy fresh out of the tub!! :) |
7 comments:
Oh I totally feel for you!! That somewhat happened to us a couple of years ago ( we were stuck in the car for 13 hours in Island Park)
I'm glad that you made the most of it and had a wonderful thanksgiving!!!
Darn, that's too bad you didn't make it but I'm glad you had a good attitude! You are awesome!
I've thought about having Christmas and Thanksgiving with just our little family, I could definitely see why it would be such a special and tender way to celebrate. Ashton is too cute, seriously he is already such a little stud muffin! And he has one gorgeous momma!
I had to modify our tree as well, I just did poinsettia flowers and berry stems, they aren't shiny and breakable so kids just aren't interested in playing with them so it works perfectly!
that's too bad you didn't make it to idaho! looks like you had fun anyway tho. your tree looks cute and that ashton - he's a looker! =) i love his hair and he looks so cute all bundled up in his winter clothes!
I am soo sorry you couldn't come to Idaho for thanksgiving. I know that everyone here would've like to see you!
I can't believe how fast your little boy is growing up. Last year he was just sooo tiny, now he's a walking terror lol....
My sister Cherhys. Her little girl just celebrated her 1st birthday on the 1st I know how funny lol...anyway I'm glad that your all safe and tell your family hello for me!
That's so sad that you didn't make it here for Thanksgiving! But at least you made the best of it and were able to spend time, just the three of you!
Your tree looks really pretty! I just love Christmas decorations and to see what everyone else does.
That little Ashton of yours....such a cutie!
Are you guys going to be able to make it to the family Christmas party? I hope so! We would love to see you!
That was quite the storm, wasn't it? I think Idaho got hit worse than Utah did. Beau-ti-ful tree! That is such a fantastic idea about strapping the tree down...
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