Thanksgiving- Heeb Family in Vegas

What a week! Thanksgiving was so much fun yet so exhausting! The family came out to Vegas for Thanksgiving this year since we aren't able to travel because of Travis' rotations. Jessica, Thomas, Sarah, and David stayed at our place and we loved seeing the babies every night and morning. Sophie & Jacob are 6 months old and so cute! That age is so much fun. Sophie is army crawling and getting into everything and Jacob is such the biggest smiler! The rest of the family stayed at the Tahiti Village, compliments of Janet & Dustin's time shares. Janet, Dustin, and Grandma stayed at the Marriott Grand Cheateau.




I do have to mention that the preparation for company was also exhausting. I was sick the weekend before Thanksgiving, so I couldn't do any of the cleaning or painting until Thursday and Friday before everyone got there. Crazy crazy, but I love how our new paint turned out!

The week started on Saturday evening with a trip to Walmart and pizza night at our place. We had to get all the food for the week and for Thanksgiving. Sunday, we all went to church together. I was doing the primary program music and loved being able to look down at my entire family in the congregation. I love being at church together with the whole family and was glad to have them meet friends in my ward. Sunday evening Travis made his tasty garlic elk steaks. We had everyone over for dinner which I realized turns into an on-going cooking and cleaning production because of my miniature kitchen. It was so fun having grandma see our house and showing everyone else around too. Travis took the little girls on ATV rides anytime they came over, which they of course loved! Audra gave me my own personal clarinet recital too. She's playing the same red clarinet that I played when I was kid and had to show off her talents. She's actually really good.



Monday was Charity's Birthday and "stripping" day. Dad took the little girls swimming in the freezing cold pool and lazy river. They of course loved it and just ignored the cold weather, relatively speaking, of course. It was probably in the low 60's. Then we did presents for Charity. Afterwards, us older kids, teenagers, and babies went down to the strip to site see and shop. I played tour guide at the Fashion Show Mall, Wynn, Palazzo, Venetian, and Ceasers. David had a great time in the Ferrari exhibit and museum in the Wynn. We all got a kick out of the holiday show at the Fashion Show Mall as well. It was suppose to actually be a fashion show, but since it's Christmas they were performing a little elf dance, Vegas style. Jessica got a classic shot of the dance. Ha!





Tuesday Mom, Dad, Sarah, David, and I went to the temple to do some of Sarah and David's family sealings. It was so nice to be in the temple during the day with my family. It was weird being there without Travis though (he had to work/school) and the whole time we were driving there I just felt like I was forgetting something-Travis! Anyway, I think they really loved the Vegas temple, especially the gorgeous celestial room. :)

That afternoon we attempted to go shopping but realized it would be better to go on Black Friday with all the sales. So instead, Joseph, Emily, Claire and I headed back to the strip to see the Exclalibur, Luxor, and Bellagio. The fountain show was amazing, synchronized to 'God Bless the USA'. Emily & Claire found a classic look-a-like on the streets and couldn't pass up tipping the guy and taking a picture with him. It was Edward Cullen from the Twilight vampire book series :) AH! Don't they look so excited?!



Wednesday was pie making day. All of us girls got together and made 11 pies! I should've totally taken a picture of my kitchen. There was pie stuff everywhere! It actually was kind of fun baking with the girls. We made apple, pink lemonade, banana cream, coconut cream, french silk, 2 pecans, pumpkin, orange creamsicle pies, and 2 snickers cheesecakes. And as a treat for all that hard work, we all went to see New Moon together! It was soooo good! Gotta love those vampire movies :)


Thursday was turkey day. In the morning the older kids all headed out to the desert to go shooting and 4 wheeling. It was such a blast (haha-blast)! Lily came with and couldn't help chasing the ATV and then sneaking in rides from everyone. She isn't a fan of the gun shots so we took her on rides on the back of the ATV. Such a fun way to spend Thanksgiving! Dinner was at our house and it turned out really well. Again, it was a cooking, cleaning production in the kitchen trying to make enough space for all the cooking. Oh, and can I just say that my fridge turned into a game of tetris all week making room for turkey day food and pies! The food was delicious and everyone had fun playing games, riding the ATV, playing with the babies and enjoying everyone's company.







Friday I finally got to do something with Dad and the little girls. The older clan wanted to go shopping while Travis & I wanted to take everyone down to the hot springs. So mom, dad, Audra, Charity, and Joy came with us. We left a little later than we hoped and got stuck in Dam traffic (that is Hoover Dam traffic, obviously). So we did the entire hike but didn't have time to get in the pools. Plus, there were sooo many people down there! I'd never seen it sooo busy! Everyone did great on the hike, and I was amazed by Joy and Charity's rock climbing skills. They'd just find their own little routes and climb up everything. It was lots of fun. I'm so glad we went. That night was Charity's own private baptism. It was such an intimate experience having her baptism with just our family. Everyone had their own part in the program and I think she felt really special. What a great way to spend our last evening together. Afterwards, we went out to dinner to celebrate mine and Travis' birthdays at BJ's and invited Travis' parents to come along as well. It was delicious and so relaxing after all that work feeding people at my house :)






So I think everyone got to do a lot of what they wanted to do and spend a lot of time with Jacob and Sophie. It was so nice of everyone to come and for Janet and Dustin to share their time share with us. It was a wonderful, memorable Thanksgiving!