Thanksgiving in Birmingham

It was quite the gathering at Tim and Whitney's for Thanksgiving this year! We were all eager to see their new house and to check out Birmingham. Even though it was a long drive, we really enjoyed it. Kentucky is gorgeous! There must have been some kind of accident because we were routed through some single-lane roads and the landscape was so pretty. The state sign says Sweet Home Alabama and of course we had to put on some Lynyrd Skynyrd as we wound our way to Birmingham. Gita was thrilled to meet their newest golden Felix. She was in heaven with those two dogs!

Tim's schedule doesn't allow him to go to church very often so we were happy to accompany Whitney. After a bit, I realized people weren't saying "rat juice" but "righteous". It was good to meet some of her Seminary students too. My company has a big office and I thought I'd just work from there. Early Monday morning I found myself locked out and absolutely no one in sight. Brent helped me break in which involved precariously climbing over a staircase. I made it though and found the place pretty much deserted. They are preparing to downsize since so many people prefer to work remotely. The white noise fans were extremely loud so I had a headache every day but at least I got my work in. 

Pretty much everyone had cleaned out their desks so whatever was left was free game. I scored some stuff like this Buzz Lightyear! In the future I don't think I'll go into this office again, even if I am in town. The people weren't unkind, but they weren't friendly either. It was dirty and there just wasn't really any benefit to physically being in the office. I met just a handful of people but they were generally quick interactions- as if no one wanted to be there.

The girls enjoyed the scooters when they visited me for lunch! After this I asked Brent to take me out for lunch so I could get away from the office.

There's a really great trail by my work and Whitney let me try her e-bike which was so much fun! We actually celebrated Thanksgiving early since people had to travel. Whitney gathered everyone to take some family photos.

I love this photo of my parents in rockers on a southern porch. So cute.

Whitney also made a fun announcement:

Dad sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. It's been a very long, rough road for this girl. I'm so happy for her!

Lots of time to hang out with family! I'm told my girls were helpful while I was at work and I managed to have some fun conversations in the time I was able to be with everyone.

It was actually kind of nice to do Thanksgiving early and then have the day to relax and just have leftovers. It felt like we got ahead of the rush. Brent and I walked the dogs and I was able to spend some 1:1 time with my mom. It's hard watching her memory being erased. She struggled to remember my name and she kept talking about going home even though they are staying in Birmingham for the winter. She hadn't showered since they arrived so I spent hours organizing the clothes in their suitcases to make things easier. I laid out an outfit and got her in the shower then dried her hair- trying my best to give her a little flip. 

Whitney and I grabbed my girls and did some Black Friday shopping. We had lunch at Real and Rosemary which everyone really enjoyed.

Ireland had a sandwich with fried green tomatoes!

The chaos was a bit much for Mom so we asked the girls to chill in the car while we took her to a furniture store. It was much quieter and she could just browse and comment on the different decorating styles. Whitney found these adorable gnomes- their hats are different kinds of tree bark! She gifted me one but I had to have all three.

Brent and I took the oldest two to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Tim was going to go but he was horribly sick and Whitney was likewise feeling the pains of pregnancy so it was just us.

Liesel was thrilled to discover the baptistry at the Birmingham temple is exactly like the Palmyra, NY temple.

Thanks to our family history-loving Bishop, the girls had some names of their own. 

Afterwards we went to Pappadeaux's as I was hoping to eat something other than chicken. I was sure they would have salmon but no, pretty much everything was fried and smothered in creamy sauce so I had a grilled chicken. It was good though! Ireland had baked stuffed crabs which she loved!

 All in all we really tried to be helpful- walking the dogs, cleaning, helping with my parents as much as possible, just trying to lighten the load. We were able to leave our Christmas gifts for them which was nice to save on shipping and we really did enjoy Birmingham!