Our MEMORABLE Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was the most memorable and special we have ever had!
38 years ago my dad had a son while he was still in high school and the boy was given up for adoption. This summer my brother, Mike found his birth certificate and found our family. My dad, step mom, and little brother all went to meet him and his family in Alaska this summer very shortly after he reached out to us. My dad has been searching for years for him and Mike has also been searching. The state of Washington finally released his birth certificate this summer and he immediately contacted us. We couldn't be happier to have found him and we are especially happy that he wants to be a part of our family.
This Thanksgiving my dad got us all together for a big family reunion! We went to Utah and had the most incredible time!

Mike is a very awesome and successful man. He is an attorney and lives in Alaska. He was an only child and both of his parents are only children, so he grew up with not a lot of family. So I am sure he is a little overwhelmed by our big crew:) He has an amazing wife (Jolene) who is an author and she is just totally awesome! He also has 2 kids (Emma and Jack). They fit right in with all the cousins. Emma is the sweetest girl I have ever met, and Jack is great too. Drake thought he was pretty cool!!!
This post will have tons of pictures because I never want to forget how awesome this reunion was....

Here is me and my brother Mike...

We had a great Thanksgiving at Ross and Afton's house. It was super yummy and we all had a wonderful day!

Cute little thing all ready for Turkey Day!

ALL of my siblings... Matt, Breanne, Mike, Afton, and me

Our new sister-in-law Jolene. She is such a talented lady. She is a successful author and can sew awesome stuff:)

This is what Trevor looked like all week. Daphne was in somebody's arms every second of the whole week. It is hard when you don't have all of your baby stuff from your home. She loved it and is going through withdrawals now that we are home and she can't be held every second of the day!

Drake and his new cousin Jack playing the ipad

My Grandma Judy came from Washington and it was so neat to see her also. She hasn't aged a bit!

Eating Thanksgiving dinner with this little snoozer

Breanne and I

Daphne and aunt Jolene

We went to the dinosaur museum on Friday. Drake was petrified. haha I was so surprised because he is a big dare devil, but he said he didn't want to go and I thought he would like it once he saw what it was, but he held on to my hand the whole time and kept wanting to leave. Little stinker!

Laynie loved it though:)

We got to watch Santa's reindeer resting up for their big day. You can't see them in the picture though:)

Laynie and Grandpa Dan

Uncle Matt with Jaxon and Drake

Me and my happy little babe. We had professional pictures done on Friday also. I can't wait to see them!

Trevor and Daphne!!! She loves him!

All 10 grandkids

We went to Temple Square to see the lights. Oh my goodness.... it was so crowded. I have been there a lot of times, but I have never seen it like that. It is so beautiful there though!!!

Ross and Daphne

Then we went bowling and ate pizza at a fun little place! My mom, Leonard, and David came up on Saturday to meet Mike and his family and they partied with us too!

The kids just wanted to play games the whole time, so we just followed them around and helped them. They had a great time!

Drake and Uncle Mike on the ferris wheel at Scheels. That place is so cool!

A BIG thank you to my dad and step-mom Erin for setting up this weekend for us and providing us with such a great opportunity to meet our new brother and his family. We love you ALL and can't wait to all get together again!!!

Thanksgiving was such a perfect time to get together and meet for the first time. I am so grateful for my family and I love you all so, sooooooo much!