We have done a lot over the last 5 days so let me get you up to speed!
We headed to Lawrence Wednesday night for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed the Wednesday night party at my Uncle's house, complete with a fire pit, hot dogs and smores. It was a very relaxing night, catching up with several of my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.
Fairlyn and my girls picked up right where they left off last Thanksgiving. They had a blast....
late into the night. We had to stay at a local hotel because my Aunt and Uncle's house was packed with lots of out of town guest. But, the girls loved it because we got up and swam with Luke Thanksgiving morning.
Thanksgiving day was perfect. We had 43 people at our Thanksgiving dinner. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time. It was hard to stop them to capture a picture, but I got a few. Lauren helped me in the kitchen getting some food ready, and Addison hung out with Jessie all day. I think we decided they are 3rd cousins....they had a blast together. We took a picture of the 1st cousins that were present, but there were lots of us missing! Sophie loved on Lauren a lot!
I had a great time catching up with my cousin Lora. We stayed at the same hotel, so we were able to spend a lot of good time together.
This girl will pose for me every time (well almost!) Complete with the huge stick in her hand as well.
Mark and Steve snuck away to catch up on their fantasy football scores. The kids played on the sand volleyball court....without shoes and socks. That is how nice it was outside on Thanksgiving day. Zach, Jason, Mark and Steve played basketball for a while as well. It was a great Thanksgiving day. I have an amazing extended family that I truly adore.
I decided to hit a few stores Thanksgiving night on gray Thursday...it was an absolute mess. As you can see Mark told me to punch people in the mouth...seriously...am I one of the guys you are talking to...um, no! Walmart was a mad house, the Target line was wrapped around to the back of the store at 8:30, so I drove by and went home and headed to bed. No amount of money is worth my time for the chaos of Black Friday or Gray Thursday. I got up at 5:00 the next morning and got everything I wanted...and a Starbucks coffee on the way home.
I got the house completely decorated for Christmas the rest of the day Friday. I go all out with my Christmas decorations. We also sat around and watched the NE game...well Mark did...I took a nap!
Saturday morning I began preparing for the Thanksgiving meal that I was preparing for Mark's family. They all arrived around noon on Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving. Asking Addison to peel potatoes did not work out so well...she is still a little young for that.
So while I worked in the kitchen the girls hung out with me. They played on my phone, my I-pad, and even had dance party, complete with microphones of honey and peanut butter.
Zach, our elf showed up sometime this weekend. I can't remember when, but hopefully he will keep an eye on the girls and give a good report to Santa this year. Addison is kind of over him already. She told me he is just a doll and has no magic...we will see how this goes this year.
Once our Harding cousins arrived Lauren was thrilled...and Addison was too.
I found this sugar cookie idea on Pinterest, so I had the kids working on it Saturday afternoon.
Addison could not wait for my help to put up new pictures of her cousins, so she did it her self.
Oh my word this kids had fun destroying playing in the basement this weekend. Late Saturday night they were having a dance party with the Barbie dolls. They were laughing and singing, and screaming and having a ton of fun.
Here are all the kids, minus Rae Ann who prefers to hang out with the adults now.
I grabbed her to come down and take a group picture with the all the kids. My MIL always loves a picture of all her grand kids.
Complete with Barbie dolls, Jessie hats, Justin Bieber doll, crazy faces and pure excitement on all of their faces.
It was a great weekend. So much to be thankful for. But, now I can't wait for Christmas!
