The Larsens ~ Brennen, Grace, Tanner, and Benson: Giving Thanks

Well, what'd'ya know! I'm back. I said I might be, so...fair warning. Now if only I can figure out how to get all my pictures to my phone that doesn't involve emailing them one by one....dropbox would be good if they didn't take for-freaking-ever to upload onto my computer due to my S...L...O...W... internet (which comes by way of cell phone). So, what can I tell you about Thanksgiving? This year we spent it in Las Vegas with Brennen's family. We stayed with Matthew and Nicki and their three kiddos. We headed out about 7 a.m. Wednesday morning and arrived around 1 p.m. Las Vegas time. We hung out with Meaghan and Dustin and Mom and Dad Larsen for a while until Matthew and Nicki were ready for us to come over. Then Brennen went to the hospital with Matthew to shadow him while I basically just sat around and did nothing. Then Nicki and I took the kids to Wal-Mart for a few things, and ended up at the pet store. Brennen got home around 1 a.m. and then we both crashed.

Thanksgiving day was a blast. Everyone slept in (which was so nice) and then we all pitched in to help make the food (well, the women did at least). Then we pretty much watched football and played Candy Crush for the rest of the day. I was getting pretty tired of it. That evening, Brennen went Black Friday shopping with his mom and sister. I HATE Black Friday. That's why I stayed home and played with the kids while Brennen spent our money.

Friday we had family pictures (hopefully to come soon). We were able to get a few of just the two of us so maybe there'll be Christmas cards coming soon? After pictures, we ALL packed up and left for Mesa. My, what a wild ride that was. I stayed awake the ENTIRE time...which was no fun at all. We almost got in a wreck when Brennen was making a left turn onto the freeway and didn't stay in his lane, and almost got a huge speeding ticked when he tried to pass a semi that was already going 75 in a 65. The semi sped up as we were passing, and ended up topping out at 94 mph, and passed a highway patrolman in the process. Talk about an adrenaline rush! For some reason he didn't come after us, for which we will be eternally grateful. In Arizona, going 20 mph over the speed limit is considered a misdemeanor! We finally got in around 11 pm, and we were all exhausted.

The next day was Brennen's birthday and the day we had planned to do everything, so, prepare for pictures!! Our day started at the Phoenix Zoo. Before we left, however, Brennen thought it would be funny to upload this picture to my Instagram:

Unfortunately, it doesn't mean anything. He just thought that since it was his birthday, he could do whatever he wanted. Really, one side of the blocks says "BOO" for Halloween and the other side says "JOY" for Christmas. Little bugger.

Remember how we went to the zoo when we had just barely moved down here? and it was about 110 degrees? Well, turns out if you go to the zoo at the end of November, it's a whole lot better!! There were a lot of animals out.

After the zoo, the boys went golfing at a course by our apartment, and the girls and kids headed back over to my place for some swimming, napping, and shopping. After we got back, we headed into Phoenix for the Suns/Jazz game!

There was some random famous guy I didn't recognize at the game, but I thought I'd get a picture just in case it was worth a million dollars someday. The Jazz ended up winning, and then we went home for cake and ice cream and a quick game of Apple to Apples. Then everyone went home, and we returned to regular life. It was a super fun weekend, though, and we're so glad we got to spend it with family. Here are a few other random blips from this weekend that don't really fall anywhere...

We managed to put up the tree last night! Still have those ugly red and blue ornaments.

I'm not entirely sure how I managed to take a screenshot of my phone at 5:30 in the morning.
Yes, my alarm says, "Wake up! Time to get ready for that job you hate!"