Fall is always such a beautiful time. Gorgeous colors. Perfect weather. Delicious comfort food. And most especially, time to remember what we're grateful for.
Thanksgiving 2015 will always be a special holiday for me, because it was the last time I got to see my wonderful Grandma, and we made some really fun memories. Definitely moments I'll treasure forever.
Since Phil and I only life about six hours outside of Portland, it was actually easier to drive there than back to Utah, so we were pretty pumped. I became the designated travel entertainment by reading this out loud, for almost the entire drive. My voice was dead by the time we got there.
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| Oh That Harper Lee |
We stopped in Kennewick for lunch, and went off the beaten path to an amazing Mexican food truck. If you're ever in Kennewick, I highly recommend El Fat Cat Grill. We were amazed at how good it was.
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| Not Pictured: Me Shoving a Burrito in My Face |
By the time we got to Oregon, we were all pretty tired. We hit some serious traffic in Portland, on the way to my grandparents' house in Salem. All we wanted to do was get dinner and relax at the hotel. Since it's hard to please a large group of food preferences, we ended up getting pizza. Little did we know that Pietro's Pizza also included a fantastic arcade. Talk about flashbacks to elementary birthday parties at Chuck-E-Cheese.
Everyone had a blast playing games. Sariah talked us into it (Go Iah!) and even Mom got in on the action.
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| Mom Arcading Like an Expert |
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| Clearly Sariah Knows What She's Doing |
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| Driving Arcade Style |
Everyone kept making fun of my terrible video game driving skills, but I still say that steering wheel was defective. We were able to cash in our tickets for fake mustaches, rubber poppers, and like five pieces of candy. I'd say it was a win.
After some nice rest and relaxation at the hotel that night (At least for some. Thanks Josh and Jake for taking that terrible pull-out bed!), we headed over to the grandparents' house to make pies. And by that I mean Josh and Dad went over and made pies and the rest of us didn't hop in until the easier tasks came into play. Slicing cheese for snacks was my job.
My Uncle Larry and Aunt Amanda were nice enough to host dinner. What. A. Spread! Seriously, so much food. I wish I had taken some pictures of it. Smoked turkey, delicious sweet potato casserole, rolls, salads, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and on, and on, and on. I could've eaten the sweet potato casserole all day. Good thing I didn't though, because I think we had about 50850876 types of pies to eat as well. Coconut cream, lemon meringue, apple with salted caramel sauce, chocolate, and on and on, and on. Needless to say, we were all stuffed by the end of the night.
It was so great to see my cousins too. I haven't seen them in years and they've all grown so much. Phil was pretty popular too.
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| Sariah, Ruth, and Me. |
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| Snuggles with Ruthie |
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| Cousin Love! |
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| Grandma's First Selfie |
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| My Beautiful Sister and Me |
Friday, as an attempt to recover from turkey hangover, we all took a drive up the Oregon coast. If you've never been, please go! It is gorgeous. So much different than other beaches. Only in the PNW would you wear this much clothing to the beach.
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| That View Though |
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| The Hubs and Me |
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| The Brothers. They Like Each Other. |
Of course we couldn't leave Oregon without some delicious seafood. We stopped in Newport and explored the local shops and restaurants. Fish and chips anyone?
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| Classy Seaside Decor |
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| Quaint Lighthouses in the Sidewalk |
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| Fish and Chips. Need I Say More? |
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| Blue Skies and Fish Smell |
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| Josh, Jake, and Mom with Some Local Art |
We had such a fabulous time with family for this wonderful holiday. It really reminded me just how many wonderful blessings I enjoy. I mean, with cousins like this... Am I right?
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| Too Cute! |
Until next time, Oregon!
