Thanksgiving In Colorado

Yes, I know I am blogging about Thanksgiving in April.  Just trying to catch up our little family blog.  Looking back at pictures I have also decided I am the worst picture taker.  So, here are a few highlights I did manage to capture about our Thanksgiving trip in Colorado.

For Thanksgiving this year, we had part of our family there to celebrate.  We took a day to explore the Denver Zoo.

Siblings.  (We missed you Lindsay and Kristen)

We had a fun time playing at Westlands Park.

My Dad and Julie introduced us to the Raclette.  It is a small grill that sits in the center of the table where everyone can cook their own dinner.  

Thanksgiving day, my family always has a tradition of going bowling.  I think it started way back when my mom was growing up to get everyone out of the house so the cooking could be done.  Miraculously, I don't have a picture, but I bowled a turkey (three strikes in a row) on Thanksgiving day! 

Sadly, this was the only picture I got of Thanksgiving dinner.  But, my dad did do a good job as always on carving the turkey.

Thanksgiving

Yes, I am really posting about Thanksgiving in April.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Ian's family this year at Morro Bay.  Morro Bay is a sleepy coastal town close to Big Sur.  It was wonderful from start to finish.

We had the whole immediate Finlay family, both grandparents, and an Aunt, Uncle, and three cousins up there.  We were quite a crew and pretty much overwhelmed our favorite frozen yogurt place as you can see from this picture.  We definitely increased their sales that night:)

Morro Bay is beautiful and known for the Morro Rock.  It is nice to walk along the beach and just enjoy.

The Finlays REALLY enjoy taking jumping pictures. No trip or occasion is complete without them.

One morning we all hiked Black's Hill which overlooks most of Morro Bay.  This is the whole Finlay crew at the top.

I tell Ian all the time how lucky he is to have all four of his grandparents living and healthy enough to hike to the top of a very steep hill!  Ian is named after both of his grandfathers which is pretty cool as well.  His two grandfathers were friends and coworkers who introduced Ian's parents to each other.  They are all such great people.  Ian takes after both grandfathers in many ways.  

My sister-in-law Megan always makes gingerbread houses to decorate the day after Thanksgiving.  She makes them from scratch.  So impressive.  

We took family pictures while we were all together. Here is the whole Thanksgiving crew.  

Here is Ian and I with his parents and grandparents.

Thanksgiving in CO

Wow!  I just realized I haven't updated this blog since last November!  We spent Thanksgiving last year in Colorado with my family.  Ian and I bought our own smoker and smoked our first turkey.  It is a Finlay family tradition to smoke the Thanksgiving turkey and it is so delicious and moist.  Everyone loved it!  

It is an Anderson family tradition to go bowling on Thanksgiving day.  When we were little it was an effort to get all the kids out of the house so my mom could cook dinner.  Even though we are adults, we still continue this tradition.

 All my sisters.

During the weekend break, it dumped snow - and I mean dumped!  We took my niece, Kate, for her first real sledding adventure.  

Ian and the boys were showing off their skills on the jump they built.

Thanksgiving In Los Angeles

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Finlays in California.  The whole family started the day off with our own Turkey Trot down the bike path.  Here is the whole crew after the race.

Alana and Ian with the turkeys. 

We started off black Friday by shopping all the great deals at the dollar store!  Actually, we had gift cards from our wedding to the dollar store in CA that we still needed to cash in, so we stocked up on A LOT of travel sized toothpaste for Ian.  Why not?  The rest of the day we spent hiking the Hollywood Hills and looking at stars at the observatory.

 A classic Finlay family jumping picture.

I am sorry I didn't take more pictures of the weekend but we had a great time in sunny California!