Thanksgiving 2011!

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Steven was off Thursday and Friday, so we had four straight days all together. On Thursday, we had a leisurely morning, ate danish and turkey bacon, and played together at home. Then we had a light lunch and the kids went down for early naps. While they were sleeping, Kati and Ray came to our house to visit. We had a great time catching up with them! In the mid-afternoon, we woke the kids up, got them ready to head out, and then went over to Granny and Pawpaw's for Thanksgiving Dinner. We spent the rest of the evening there - eating, talking, laughing, singing, giving thanks, and playing several rounds of Taboo. It was just splendid family quality time!

Ray and Elise snuggled when she first woke from her nap...


Some of the girls at our family dinner (Kati, Katelyn, Shannon, Julie, and Pam):


Gramps and Isaac getting ready to down some Reddi Whip:


Ray and Uncle Mike, playing on the iPad:


Granny and Kati:


We were looking for Elise after dinner, and we found her in the hallway, reading a book: (she loves to read!)


Sisters! (sometimes we're mistaken for twins!)


Elise enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror:


Our sweet host and hostess:


Elise and Granny, snuggling:


Family pictures! First, the formal one:


Next, the fun one! Our kids love to be tickled! (who doesn't!?!)


My Daddy and me: (we realized that we don't have many pictures together, so we had a photo shoot, too!)


And a close-up:


Isaac taking our picture, too: (with a little digital camera that Gramps lets him use!)


We changed the kids into their nightclothes before we left. They'd had a fantastic time running around and playing (and thanks SO much to my Mom for playing Play-Doh with them while the grown-ups played Taboo! Momma, you're the best!) Before we headed out, the kids got a second wind and started climbing the steps on the outside of the stairwell. Fun! (We had to get a picture before we pried them off!)


Thank you, Lord, for this past year, filled with your faithfulness and grace. We are grateful to always be upheld by Your righteous right arm.