Cannonball Thanksgiving!!

We loved having Pops, CC and Curt visit us for Thanksgiving this year. They arrived on Sunday and let Chase and I take off for a couple of days to San Antonio for a temple trip. It's hard to get to the temple when you have little ones, especially when it's an hour and a half away. Babysitters rake in the dough around here. AT $8 an hour when you're gone all day, it can get VERY expensive. We took full advantage of free babysitters and stayed overnight at the Hyatt and enjoyed every second of sleeping in the next morning. I don't think we left our hotel room to get breakfast until noon!

I had never heard anything spectacular about the city of San Antonio. Of course there's the Alamo, but I had never heard of the river walk which was right below our hotel. It was delightful and the food was spectacular. We ate at a restaurant that night that had the yummiest salmon I've ever tasted. The next morning we ate breakfast at the Guenther House which is known for their breakfast. I was impressed with the antique home and it's gardens but the food was nothing to rave about, especially after waiting an hour to be seated:-)

The temple was amazing!! It is one of the "mini temples" that was recently built when Present Hinckley came up with the idea. I loved all the hard wood floors and stain glass windows. Truly a beautiful temple. I ended up sitting next to Jessica Knepp who is the angel who jumped in the pool when she saw that Jack had fallen in last summer. I don't think I'll even forget this woman because she literally saved my baby's life. It was delightful sitting next to her as she has since moved to Arkansas and was only visiting Texas for Thanksgiving. On our way out of San Antonio we ate at an Italian restaurant called Dough which literally had the BEST PIZZA I'VE EVER TASTED!! If ever there was a reason to attend the temple more frequently, Dough artisan pizza dough has certainly made it an easier conquest.

As soon as we got home on Wednesday we took the Cannons down to town lake for a little Austin sightseeing, some Torchy's trailer tacos, and a relaxing canoe ride. I still can't get over how beautiful Austin is. even in a severe drought, the lake's shores were breathtaking.

After running around all day with no nap, Jack completely passed out on the canoe, sitting up!! Poor little guy was so tuckered out. I noticed he was drooping a little as he sat next to me and couldn't believe he was actually sleeping. My large belly was useful at this point for a little headrest:-)

Thanksgiving was exciting because I knew we were going to have Connie's orange rolls and I was excited to try all the other family recipes she had up her sleeve. Jack loved helping CC make the cranberry sauce and we all loved eating it!! We were pretty much in the kitchen all day while the men had their "cross fit" workout and took the kids on a long walk to the park.
It was nice spending so much time with Connie. I feel so fortunate to have such fantastic in-laws. They're so fun to talk to and always have hilarious things to say. The weather cooperated and we were able to eat outside on the deck with our new red picnic table. Chase and I love the ambiance of Chuy's so much, we decided to make our backyard look the same with a picnic table and white lights above us. We love eating outside and LOVE not having to sweep and mop the floor inside afterwards:-)
Dinner was fantastic. I made my Mom's stuffing and stuffed mushrooms, Curt made the potatoes, and Pops roasted the turkey. DELISH!! My only complaint was that I couldn't eat it fast enough and it got cold. That happens to me every year. I am an even slower eater when I'm prego.
Jack pretty much just ate CC's orange rolls. Who wouldn't?
We can never get him to stay and eat very long, especially when we're outside. It wasn't long before he was out of his chair and scooping dirt into his dump truck.

Sadie just relished her time with Pops, CC, and Curt while they were here. She talked about them coming for a month before they came and talked about how much she missed them after they left. It's hard living so far away from family. Even Jack who I think is pretty oblivious to life sometimes mentioned how much he missed Pops totally out of the blue and a while after they had already left!

Curt especially will be missed by the kiddos (and us too, of course). He has such a way with them that they never want to leave him alone. He brought them these cool wooden carved animals from Africa and his crazy self to keep the kids entertained. It was nice having someone else for Sadie and Jack to leach onto. I just hope they didn't wear him out!!

Thanks for coming guys. Come again soon!!