Thanksmas 2014

Lots of pictures for our short week of celebrating Thanksgiving.  Elizabeth, Kent and Ardis came to this year and we had a wonderful few days together.

Elizabeth and Kent arrived Tuesday afternoon.  That morning I was cleaning up the house and every time I turned around, Colin had dumped out whatever I just cleaned up.  No wonder I always feel like I'm picking up! 

Ardis arrived Wednesday and while the boys went grocery shopping, the girls got pedicures.  They always go above and beyond to pamper Alison and she soaks up every minute.

Thursday morning, the kids colored and played games while the food was being prepared.

When Colin got up from his nap, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner.

 

After we ate, the kids attacked Granddaddy.

 

Then Alison turned into a princess and begged daddy to come give her a kiss.

 

Then she turned on him too. 

 

Alison taught Granddaddy how to play 'banana split' and then we all had dessert.

 

Nothing better than coffee and pumpkin pie by the fire.  Except the kids and I had cookies and milk and we were pretty happy.

Friday morning, we celebrated Christmas and the kids could not wait to open presents.

 

 

Everyone was so generous and the kids had a great time playing with their new toys the rest of the day.  I loved how a lot of their new things, they could all play with...which is a challenge with different ages and different genders.

That afternoon, Kent took our family pictures.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them!  I took a few shots after we came inside.

Photo by Alison

Some time in the midst of all the craziness, Alison decided it was time to be a bride and have a tea party.  She's going to be a beautiful bride some day.

 

Everyone left yesterday and I thought it was funny how the kids readjusted to "normal".  Alison realized that she had my undivided attention again and attempted to set a world record for how many things she could get me to do in a day.  Eli came out of the shell he had been hiding in the entire time and was excited to play with his toys all by himself.  I can't even type all the noises I heard from his room all afternoon, but he was in make believe world most of the day.
  Colin realized that he had slowly been getting away with more and more while we were distracted and decided to test how many melt downs would get his way.

Detox is never fun, but worth it to see family.  I do really love how our kids can jump in and connect with family they haven't seen in a year (which is a really long time in their short life) and I love how affectionate they are to people they've just met.  I was proud of them this week and I pray that these are traits they will always carry.

 

putting the new puzzle together again this morning