Saturday, December 3, 2011

Thanksgiving -- Part 2

We arrived in Temple, TX late Tuesday afternoon to spend the rest of our Thanksgiving vacation with my dad's family. The kids were so excited to see their cousins and start playing with them!
I forgot and left my camera in the car until the next morning. Boo. It was a great relaxing evening on Tuesday. Soon after we got there, I went with my dad to see my granny and I'm so thankful that I had that extra chance to see her. Even though she won't remember it, and she was pretty tired that evening, I will remember that time and I'm thankful for it. We got back to my Aunt Kathy's house and had a yummy dinner, more kids playing, and then got everyone bedded down for the night (no small task). Our family of 5 stayed out in my cousin Dana's amazing camper. If we had something like that, I might actually consider going camping sometime. :) The kids thought that it was the coolest thing! They loved their bunks and slept great, all night long. Matt and I had our own room out there -- TV included! It was perfect for us and I'm so thankful that Dana let us use it!


We woke up Wednesday morning early and the kids piled in bed with us. We turned on the TV and happened upon the Curious George movie and we all had some good morning snuggles while we watched it together. By the time we finished the movie and were dressed, Uncle Ron was off to get some donuts for breakfast! He knew exactly what these kiddo liked -- sprinkle and rainbow donuts for all!





Madeleine was in cousin heaven that week! Emma is just a year older and Rhea is just a couple of months younger. They "talked" her into having her loose tooth pulled by Dana later that morning. That's the first tooth she's actually been awake while she lost it. It's amazing what peer pressure can do! I think she was pretty proud of herself too....just hope Dana doesn't mind coming to AR each time we need a tooth pulled. (Just kidding....kind of!)

Tooth #5 is gone. The rest of the morning was spent playing outside with the kids. The weather was absolutely gorgeous those days!




Harrison found the sand and spent a good part of the time there right at this spot!






Just before lunch we all headed over to see my Granny. It's been awhile since I've been down there and it was hard seeing how much she's changed. But, I'm thankful that I got to have Charlotte see her this time. We made quite a crew that day -- all 19 of us! Granny knew she was the center of attention this time and was handing out kisses to all of us. I'll always remember that. We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and our own professional photographers, get some family pictures with Granny.



The rest of our Wednesday was spent with more outside playing and talking. It was good to relax and have some fun! We ended the day by looking at some old pictures -- my Aunt Kathy had even found my Dad's old cowboy/indian/horses play figures which she's kept for Harrison. 50 years later and they're still great toys -- he's loved playing with them at home! Some things never change, I guess. That night was also a big first for Madeleine. She went and spent the night at Rhea's house -- her first sleepover! Dana texted me a picture of the girls all snuggled up in bed watching a movie that night. I'm so thankful that her first sleepover was at her cousin's house; it made it extra special!


Thursday was the big day! I love Thanksgiving more than any other holiday. We hung out more, watched Aunt Kathy cook (hehehee!) and got our appetites ready for the big meal!

I took this picture during the pray before we ate. I'm sad it didn't turn out great, but I still love looking at it -- they pray the same way.

Dana spent the week trying to win over Charlotte. By Thursday afternoon, Charlotte had taken to her and Dana rocked her to sleep....then they both napped together. Usually, Charlotte only will sleep about 30 minutes when she's being held, but on Dana she slept much much longer. I also have to add that earlier this week, when I was putting her to sleep and we were singing "Oh How I Love Jesus....Mommy, Daddy, etc. (she fills in the name each time), well, she said "Dana." I thought she was saying "dada" but she kept shaking her head "no" and saying it over and over, until finally I said, "Dana??" and she said "Yes!" :)

Harrison and Ben became fast friends while we were there. They spent most of the time sitting right here at the sandbox.

Cousins -- Emma, Madeleine and Rhea.

And, I seriously could have taken this little guy home with me! He's too adorable for words!

It was such a perfect week for us! I still can't believe that I didn't take a single picture of my mom and Charlotte, since Charlotte spent most of the week either being held by Mimi or asking to be held by Mimi. :) The kids are already asking to go back and see their cousins.


Matt and I decided to try driving at night and we packed up and left that night around 5. We actually had a wonderful trip home for the first 7 1/2 hours. The kids ate dinner and went to sleep and Matt and I had time to talk. Bliss! After we got north of Dallas we didn't even have any traffic. The last 30 minutes were rough because Charlotte started throwing up. Poor gal! When we pulled over to clean her up, the other kids woke up. I was afraid they'd be up all night after having that nice long nap in the car, but as soon as we got home, the all went right back to sleep and we all slept until after 9 the next morning! A great end to our week! Can't wait till next year!

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