Varvel Family: Thanksgiving Break

We had a fun Thanksgiving break! Bailey got home, and right away headed to the KID News Station to do their Studio Cover Session. She had a few minutes to practice before she went, but her sweet pup just wanted some love. Oreo didn't understand why her mom was finally home, but not giving her all the attention. She kept inching her way onto the carpet and was trying to give Bailey kisses while she practiced. Sweet little puppy!

Oreo was so happy to have her mom home!

KID Studio Cover Session:

Bailey sang Jolene for the KID News Studio Cover Session. She did a great job considering she didn't have any time to practice. It was a stressful time at school and she had just been trying to keep her head above water. She practiced right before we got there. It helped that she knows Neal and Julie, so that took some of the pressure off and put her at ease.

Here is a link to Bailey's Video

Neal, Bailey, and Julie.

The Butte:

Mark and I took Bailey for her first run at the Butte. It's a fun place to run, and she really liked it.

Me and Mark

Playing on the rocks on top.

Looking through the middle of the volcano.

I showed Mark and Bailey the 'thumb' that Jenn showed me.

Thumbs up!

Half way down the backside of the Butte. The sky looked really cool!

At the top looking off the face. We were ready to head back down.

It can get slippery coming down.

Bailey is painfully slow coming down slippery stuff, so we got a little ways ahead of her. We stopped to wait, and she wasn't coming. We waited awhile, and then finally went back to see what happened. There is a slippery spot that you have to step down. She sat down to come down it, and somehow managed to get herself in a position where she couldn't move. I way DYING! Mark got her all untangled, and she still couldn't get down. I filmed the end of the whole ordeal, so enjoy!

Hahaha! This rivals some of the experiences I had with her in Canyonlands last spring.

Women's Run: Turkey Trot

Our Women's Run for the week was a turkey trot! I'm sure we were quite a sight running around downtown.

I love these crazy ladies!

Lower Palisades Lake:

Bailey and I decided to run to Lower Palisades Lake while she was here. We went in the middle of the week, and we were the only ones on the trail. That was all fine and dandy until we saw big kitty prints ON TOP of our tracks on the way back, about a mile from the trailhead. That was a bit unsettling! There was a perfect amount of snow to make the running conditions awesome! Great day!

It was about 8* when we got started. We went through a couple cold patches where I'm sure the temperature was hovering around 0*.

She loves this trail just as much as Mark and I do.

This is my favorite part of the trail in the winter. So pretty.

My phone battery couldn't handle the cold, and I noticed that it was dying fast. We hurried to get to the lake so I could get a picture before it died. I took this picture, and handed my phone to Bailey to take a selfie of us at the lake, and it died right as I gave it to her. Perfect timing!

Thanksgiving Day:

Thanksgiving day was great. Mark and I got up early and met Jenn and Mat for an early morning run in Bone. It was a bit chilly!

Dark and cold when we started!

It ended up being a great run!

We had lots of college kids over for Thanksgiving dinner. Sawyer, Bailey, and Noah were there, and then we had 5 BYU-I students over who couldn't go home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sawyer is on the couch in a turkey coma and wouldn't sit up for the picture.

After dinner and dessert were done, we started our annual puzzle. Mark, Bailey, Noah and I finished it that night. It was a fun one that I bought at a cute bookstore in Boise.

Black Friday:

Bailey and I LOVE shopping on black Friday. It's not nearly as fun as it used to be now that everyone shops online, but we still manage to have a good time. Watch the video below for a glimpse into our shenanigans.

She was stuck in this dress for a long time. It was even better trying to get it off. I pretty much had to pull her across the whole dressing room yanking on it. Needless to say, she didn't buy it.

Herritage Park Run:

We did a snow run around Heritage Park by Snake River Landing. The trails looked so pretty with all the fresh snow.