Tis the season....to be thankful

Before I forget I need to recap my Thanksgiving break which included many festivities.

My break kicked off Tuesday night when Evan, Dan, and my roommates went to Cafe Rio to celebrate mine and Tess' birthday.  

our best attempt to get all of us in a photo

roommate photo

On Wednesday I woke up bright and early, and headed to the west desert with papa dear to chase down Union Pacific No. 844.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a steam locomotive.  I thought it quite entertaining surprisingly because we seemed to be the only people out in the middle of no where, and then all of these sudden when the train passed 50 cars appeared and there started to be chaos.  I guess it was worth the 3 hour wait for the train to actually come because dad made some friends and we got a couple good laughs in.  Gotta love those train nerds. 

While we were waiting for the train to show up
I told dad to look bored.... I guess he wasn't bored after all

Imagine this and 50 more cars behind us

Dad and I were worn out (not really) by the time we got back home so on Thanksgiving Eve we ate at Five Guys and then mom, Rachel, and I headed to REI to do some pre-birthday shopping where I got a coat and hat for London.

Thursday was Thanksgiving!  One of the best holidays of the year because it starts the holiday season.  Once again we spent the bulk of the day at Grandma and Grandpa Franklins.  This year we mom and I taught Aunt Gail, Kaden, and Paige how to play farkle.  I think it was a success.  Oh and the best part of all is we got the Christmas Santa!  Every year grandpa outdoes himself.

Me and Paiger with Kade in the background

I just had to snap a shot of this.  Isn't grandpa adorable?  He is so cute and loving with his grandkids and shows interest in them, even if it is watching Kaden over the shoulder while playing his game.

Santa holding Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

I love going up to Ogden and this year we got another Ogden/family history tour.  Our cousin Patrick (from the Barker side) came up to the Franklin side with us and so we took him around the family history spots.  The family history tour wouldn't be complete without a visit to see Tiffy, our second cousin once removed....and yes Tiffy is a dog....and yes she has her own statue, her own cemetery actually.  Long story.  We also visited the Barker and Dee's graves, they however don't have their own cemetery.

Me, Rachel, Tiffy, Patrick, and Brooke 

After coming home from Ogden we drove down and spent the night in Spring City.  Friday afternoon we headed back home and decorated the Christmas tree (one thing I make my family do every year, usually on my birthday).  It also happened to be my birthday but everyone was sick with a cold so we held off the celebration and just celebrated by opening presents.  On Saturday we celebrated even more by eating at the Dodo and then Rachel's friend Brett met us at TopIt for some frozen yogurt.

I will admit Sunday was a great day to finish off the short break.  We went to church at 11, which was so nice because I didn't have to go to my 8:30 a.m. ward in Provo.  After mom made a delicious meal that consisted of salmon, snap peas, and cooked red cabbage.  And for a third day in a row, we celebrated my birthday by singing to me and eating my birthday cake because now most of us could actually taste it.  The only crappy part about Sunday was that I had to go back to school the next day....

....but I was a little excited to go back to Provo because I knew my awesome roommates had probably planned something fun when I returned, and they did.  For the second year in a row I messed up their surprise but it still worked out I guess.  I walked up the stairs to a welcome message on our huge front window that said "HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY ABBY!  We Love You!!!"  When I walked in the apartment all three of my roommates and Mike looked really surprised and I later found out because sitting on the table right next to me was a birthday treat they had made (which I wasn't suppose to notice, and lucky for them, I didn't).  I guess while I went to put my stuff away they all hurried around trying to clean up and hide everything.  They had invited some friends over so when I came home they were going to surprise me but sadly I came home early so I was the one doing the surprising.  Anyway, Mike's roommates came over and they all sang to me and gave me these really delicious coconut (they know I love coconut), chocolate, brownie type things.

Front row:  Cara, Travis, Mike, Rachel
Second row: Todd, me, and Tess

Later that night we watched Elf and then Richard came over after he got home from California.  I know this has been a long post so I will finish with a brief description and picture because I think it's hilarious.  When Richard came over he opened the front door slightly, peeked in to see who was in the room and then fully entered the room wearing this....

Richard in his footy pjs and of course, his angels baseball cap

Haha boy am I going to miss my roommates, friends, and goofy FHE dad (Richard) when I go to London next semester.  Now all I have to do is make it through these last two weeks of school and I'm England bound!