Thanksgiving in Arizona

It would be easiest to do this holiday recap in chronological order, so I think that is how it is going to go!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH

Jake stayed home from school and we made pizza again together. We packed and got ready for our vacation and around 8:30 pm - 9:00 pm his sister Marie and brother Steven arrived at our house. After making their own pizzas and having some moon cake and raspberry creme Shasta, Steven took off in Jake's car to go to his parent's house and Marie crashed for the night in our Red Room.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH

Driving, driving, driving. I was so happy that we left on time (7:00 am) and that the drive wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. It was LONG and UNCOMFORTABLE, but the scenery was gorgeous and it was very fun visiting with my husband and listening to Harry Potter 4 on the way. We arrived at Jake's grandparent's home at 6:00 pm and visited, ate some dinner, and got to see our new niece (Breena Celeste) for the first time. She is adorable! I hope my baby is a good baby like Breena. *CROSS YOUR FINGERS*

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH

Thanksgiving day! We woke up to the smell of cooking turkey and it was lovely. We mostly just visited in the morning and ate "dinner" around 1:00 pm. LOTS of mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce on my plate! After dinner I was eager to get out of the house for a while and so Jake and I went for a drive. He took me to Queen's Creek and we saw our Aunt Malinda's and Uncle Ty's old house - it is BEAUTIFUL! I would definitely love living in a place like that. After the drive we munched and had fun for the rest of the day and ended with a large family round of SCUM. I was President for the last 5 rounds of the game and felt pretty happy with myself. It was intense and there were some very close rounds, but I pulled through!

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH

This was probably my favorite day of the trip. Jake took me to In-n-out Burger for lunch so that I could taste what everyone had been raving about. It was pretty good but definitely needed pickles and less lettuce! We had the opportunity to do a session at the Mesa temple with Jake's parents, brother and sister-in-law, and Grandfather Freestone. It was really neat and the temple was beautiful! We went to dinner at Red Lobster to celebrate Mom and Dad Bentley's and Grandma and Grandfather Freestone's anniversary. (They were both on November 26th). The service was pretty bad and they wouldn't let all of us sit together because of Mesa fire code. The food wasn't as good as the Red Lobster in Salt Lake... BUT!!! We had a fantastic time visiting and laughing with the people we could sit with and it was great! After dinner we went home and we played the Celestial Companions game with Robert and Bridget and Mom and Dad Bentley. That was SO hilarious and very informative! It is amazing how much and how little you can know about your spouse!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH

I was craving a chicken sandwich so we hit up Burger King for lunch. We did a bit of Christmas shopping at Target and did a lot more family visiting. Bridget and Robert took us to a restaurant called Oregano's (1 1/2 hour wait!) to get a Pizzookie. Luckily we could do take-out instead of waiting for such a long time! A pizzookie is a BIG cookie cooked in a small pan until it is done but still very mushy and topped with vanilla ice cream. It was very good! We went to see the lights at the Mesa Temple and I wish I could post pictures... but alas - no camera!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH

What a crazy day! Robert and Bridget had church at 8:40 am so we were up bright and early! The blessing was wonderul and it was fun to get to meet Bridget's family. Breena looked SO cute! We headed back to Grandma and Grandfather's right after sacrament meeting to pack and get ready. Marie and Steven had to be back to school/work on Monday morning and so Jake and I decided to take them. Unfortunately, we had to wait several hours to get on the road so that we could take family pictures first. We didn't get on the road until 1:30 pm... and that drive was quite miserable. I was SUPER uncomfortable and Marie was very sick (throwing up). The darkness made the drive seem 10x longer and we were very paranoid about hitting animals. Jake's car was still at his parent's house and we were going to pick it up and have Marie and Steve take her car and head to Ogden... but we abandoned that plan around 10:00 pm. We headed straight home and they crashed at our house for a few hours before having to leave at 6:00 am. Yuck!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1ST

It was SOOOO nice to already be home and have the opportunity to VEG! Jake and I had a great time spending time with each other and he dropped me off at my parent's house before going to school. My mom made THANKSGIVING DINNER TAKE 2 and it was super tasty! We probably shouldn't have eaten so much... but it was so good!

All-in-all it was a fantastic vacation and it was very hard to get back to reality today. My body decided that it wasn't going to do it this morning and I have been home sick. I have no choice about teaching this afternoon so I am hoping that things will continue to improve as the day progresses.

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and is getting excited for Christmas!

Love from the Bentley Family