Christmas Tree Hunting

While in Star Valley for Thanksgiving,

we decided to get a permit for a Christmas tree.

We headed out into the forest and found this great

clearing. The kids immediately found this fantastic

hill to slide down and they spent a couple hours on

it while the guys went in search of that perfect tree.

There she is ... our tree

a little tall ...

Family Pic with our Christmas tree!

Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to head to the

arctic weather of Star Valley and enjoy the new Bott cabin.

The whole Robert Bott Clan was there.

Thanksgiving morning the temp read -20 degrees!!

Brrrr ...

But we still had fun ....

fourwheeling...

Snowmobiling ...

Josh decided after testing the strength of the ice on the

pond by foot that he should try it out with his 4-wheeler.

Brilliant idea! :)

Luckily, the ice held and I didn't have to send the

rescue crews out!

Back inside there were plenty of fun things to do too!

Video games seemed to be Landon's fortee this trip.

Michelle had all sorts of holiday crafts

for the kids to do in the loft.
The beautiful kitchen ...

Looking up at the loft ...

The chandelier

Fireplace and TV ...

Ahhhh ...

Yummy rolls!
Chef Ben preparing the delicious spread.

He and Kristy made a FANTASTIC dinner for us all!
CHOW TIME!!!
Dig in!
After dinner siesta!

And the best part ...THE PIES!!!
There was pumpkin, Lemon creme, Raspberry creme,

dutch apple and sweet potato pies!

It was a great day! Thanks Ben & Kristy for making our day great!

My parents have been out of the country

for the past two Thanksgivings.

And since my sister and I will be out of town this year,

we figured we better have Thanksgiving a little early.

The Cooks ...

I LOVE these guys!

My mom always has the "holiday table"

The Grub ...

Yummy as usual!

We all wrote Thank-You notes to

Service Members and/or Veterens

who have helped to maintain our freedom.

Story-Time with Grandma & Grandpa

And, of course,

PIES

Eliza's Blessing

My Cute Niece

Eliza Kristine Hodgkinson

was blessed today.

She is so stinkin' sweet!

Here she is with Grandma-GreatI think she was just really wanting us to quit taking pictures.

And of course, what would one of our get-togethers be without some GOOD food!

Well Done Ben & Kristy!

Thanks!

Venison Anyone?

He Got His Deer!!!

My Boys Go A Huntin'

Josh took the boys elk hunting.

They didn't get anything, but they had some great male-bonding time. Cullen nailed these ducks on the youth duck hunt.

I don't know who was prouder ...

Josh or Cullen