Thanksgiving!

We went to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. We were there from Tuesday night until Saturday. It was great to be by the beach and around family and in our old hometown. We hope to visit again soon. It was too short and we forgot how much we love it there. It was crazy to be staying in a house where 55 other people were hanging out... but it was mostly a good kind of crazy.

I exercised every day while I was there. I saw my sister every day too, which was so great. We jogged together, talked together, and went shopping together. More on that later.

My kids had a lot of time to hang out with their cousins. I think they were sort of in heaven. And so was I, because I got to be free of responsibility for large chunks of time. My children are at an age where I feel ok about letting them do their thing, and I have very responsible nieces and nephews. It works out splendidly.

I hardly helped at all in the kitchen before or after the Thanksgiving meal. It is shameful really, but it was sort of covered by everyone else. Mostly Alison. But believe me, had any need arisen, I would have helped. As it was, I felt like I was in the way every time I entered the kitchen. Plus, let's be real here. I'm lazy.

The meal was fantastic. I tried so hard not to over-eat, but there were a million dishes and everything was so good! I had a little bit of everything and I was stuffed.

So, besides going on jogs (and walks with Dan) and hanging out with everyone, I went shopping downtown with some family. (In other news- Boom! Santa Barbara now has an H&M.) So, I spent some money. It is nice to shop without kids. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but they don't love shopping.

On Friday my sister took Rachel, Alison, and I to Solvang to this amazing place where they sold clothes and fabric for super duper cheap. We didn't think we would spend tons of time there, but we did. We found all kinds of goodies, including formals and temple dresses for three dollars. THREE DOLLARS. All the fabric I bought was a dollar a yard. I scored, and it was super fun. We took pictures in the room where you pay for everything. I offered to be a boy, but Rachel and Lori took one for the team. This picture cracks me up! What a fun group.

We were hungry after foraging for deals in all those different rooms, so we walked to a main street and bought pastries. I wasn't expecting much from my apricot danish, but it was OUT OF THIS WORLD good. I need to go to Solvang next time we visit SB, because it is cute and amazing and I'm still thinking about that danish.

While I was doing other things, Dan went shooting. Once with guns in the mountains with the boys, but mostly he did the kind with his camera. There were a lot of photo-shoots last weekend! He was asked by 4 of his siblings to do family pictures, and he also did a few surf/beach shoots with teen and adult family members for his and Jake's venture into selling clothing. It's called Babes Arizona Surf, and they have a lot of followers on Instagram. Check it out. We hope it will help pay for Jake's mission to Croatia. (Click here for Babes!)

We took the kids to the beach before we left. They wanted to stay there for much longer... mostly to play at the park. It was such a beautiful day... I didn't really want to get in the car either. But we loaded everyone up and headed home eventually. The kids were pretty good in the car, and we had a great vacation. For that I am thankful.