Thanksgiving 2012

I am always so excited for this time of the year. Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays. Not just because of the delicious food, but because I have been so incredibly blessed in my life, and I feel like Thanksgiving always helps us remember and reflect. I am so thankful for my ENTIRE family, but this year we were especially thankful to get to spend the holiday with my dad. We always celebrate holidays with Poppa and JJ, but usually a week early, or a week late. We drove to Cloud View Dr. on Wednesday. The boys did so great in the car and only a couple of times did Bowen get fussy. Super baby. As soon as we got there, Braidy, Crockett and Quin started playing. They did not stop until we left. Seriously. It was rather late, so we ate some dinner and chatted for a while and got ready for bed. We had a big day ahead. On Thanksgiving morning, the boys got up early and helped Poppa feed the deer and assisted JJ with breakfast. Poppa took all 3 of them with him to get Rachy from the airport. Crockett had been waiting to go for about 2 weeks! After she got to the house, we all went on gator rides... I think the little boys now know dad's road better than he does! Ha! It was such a beautiful day outside and they definitely took advantage of it! The boys played outside all day and managed to get very wet and move every rock they could find. They had a blast. As we all worked with JJ to get the sides ready, Chef Ryan and Sous Chef Chris fried the turkey. Braidy even made a blueberry pie for the little boys. He is a little chef, and one day he is going to have "Braidy's Breakfast Restaurant"! You heard it here first! When we all finally sat down for our Thanksgiving meal, it was delish! SO YUMMY! Bowen even got his first helping of sweet potatoes on his 1st Thanksgiving. He LOVED it. Right before it got dark, I had asked Monica to take our annual family Christmas picture. My 3 boys gave me SO MUCH GRIEF that it almost wasn't worth it, but it was... as always. I treasure these pictures every year, even if I am the only one who wanted to take them :) How could we pass up such a beautiful backdrop?!? It really was such a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The next day, after we all recovered from our 'food coma', we decided to go ride the train at Landa Park in New Braunfels. We have been one other time and it is such a fun place and the boys love it! We even had some special visitors: Uncle Mike and Aunt Carolyn! We hadn't seen them in so long and they hadn't met Bowen yet, so we were all excited! They had a great time playing with the boys... I bet they both slept very good Friday night :) We all enjoyed riding the train, feeding the ducks and playing on the playground. It was such a beautiful day and we were so glad to get to be outside to enjoy it. The boys were all a bit testy, so it was a VERY GOOD THING that they were able to run and play as they pleased. When we got home, EVERYONE was worn out. Poppa and JJ went to rent a movie and we all watched it. On Friday night, I can honestly say, we were most thankful for bedtime. :)

On Saturday we woke up and had a delicious breakfast of waffles and got ready to go. But not before taking a few more really special pictures. We had such a great Thanksgiving and are so thankful that Poppa and JJ had us to their house. We left Bulverde and headed to San Marcos to visit Grandpa Steve and KK (Kelly). It was a short drive and Crockett was so happy to see them! Grandpa Steve saw Bowen when he was itty-bitty, so he couldn't believe how much he had changed and grown! Kelly finally got to meet Bowen and it was love at first sight! Crockett had so much fun playing at the playground (twice), collecting rocks and looking for seashells in the dirt. He even made a beach in the bird bath :) We all watched the Tech game (BOO! They lost in OT) and caught up since it had been such a long time since we had all been together. Kelly fixed a yummy dinner of bruschetta, spaghetti, salad and green beans. And after dinner, KK and Crockett made some cookies! It was such a fun time. Crockett even got to watch Umizoomi movies with Grandpa Steve upstairs before they went to bed. We had such a great visit and we were sad we couldn't stay a little longer. We sure love Grandpa Steve and KK! Can't wait to see them again!

We had such a great Thanksgiving this year. We got to see so many special people, and were blessed with some wonderful memories. Each person in our family is such a great, big part of our lives, and although we weren't able to see each one, we are so very thankful for the role they play in all aspects of our lives. We would not be who we are as individuals or as a family. We are blessed in such a big way. We are THANKFUL.