Our Five Ring Circus: Thanksgiving

Monday, December 1, 2014

Thanksgiving

Every year, Thanksgiving sneaks up on us.  I think it's because Dylan's birthday is always around or on Thanksgiving, so we stay busy celebrating.  This year wasn't any different!  Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was here!

Even though Thanksgiving Day is chaotic and busy, I love it.  I love the time spent with family, the delicious meal, and the excitement about the upcoming Christmas season that builds throughout the day!

Our family's Thanksgiving tradition is to sleep in, then have a cinnamon roll breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I love the relaxing morning with just the six of us, before we start making our rounds.

I am so thankful for my four beautiful kids.  On Thanksgiving morning, they were so full of energy and excitement.  Liam chose that day to start getting into everything, but it was okay.  It's age appropriate for him and that's what we like to see!!!

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Our first stop of the day was at Grant's Grandma's house for an early Thanksgiving dinner.

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We stuffed ourselves full of delicious food.  I think this is the perfect "I'm stuffed" Thanksgiving picture!

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After we ate, Liam spent some time with his Grandma and Great Grandma, and the kids played with cousins they only get to see a few times a year.  They all had a great time!

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I hate the fact that we have to rush out every year, but we, along with everyone else, had other places to go.

Our second stop was at my sister's house, so I could see a few members of my family.  I really miss seeing all my siblings on Thanksgiving, but it just isn't feasible for all of us to get together on Thanksgiving anymore.   I really wish we could.

Dylan, Lexie, and Lily had a great time playing with their cousin, Aubrey, and we had fun talking to my parents, my sister, Sharilyn, and her family.   Rather than have two Thanksgiving dinners like we typically do, we just joined them for dessert this year!

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We didn't stay too long.  My parents headed home early because my mom had to work the next day, my sister and brother-in-law wanted to go shopping, and my niece and her family were leaving for a trip at 3 AM.  It wasn't a long visit, but I'm so glad we got to spend time with them!

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Lily always has fun playing dress up with Aubrey's outgrown clothing.  She ended up swapping her clothes for a fancy Easter dress, a sweater, a hooded fur vest, and one boot.  She ended up leaving that way!

Our final stop of the day was at Grant's Nannie's house to see relatives that were in town.

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We all sat around and chatted, Liam snuggled with everyone, and the older kids fell in love with a relative we met that day.  They ran around playing hide and seek with her for hours! I felt myself really getting into the Christmas spirit.  We all had a really good time!

I'm not quite sure why we always wait until the end of the day to take a family picture, but we did it yet again!  We always look exhausted and disheveled, but I guess that's real life!!!  The five of them are my world!

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We returned home, had a quick snack, then all four kids fell asleep in Dylan and Liam's room while Grant and I watched "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles."  It was a good end to a good day!

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The Thanksgiving spirit continued on Friday.  Grant didn't have to work, so we slept in and had a relaxing morning and afternoon at home.

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We went over to my friend Amber's house to hang out with friends at 4:30 and had a great time spending a few hours with them.

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That evening, my dad came over to watch the kids so Grant and I could go to a 90th Birthday dinner for Grant's Nannie.  Nannie will be 90 on December 12th, and she is a wonderful lady. She's Grant's grandma, but she's mine, too! She is still so sharp and races her beloved Camaro around town.  I hope I'm just like her at age 90!  Grant's Uncle Scott decided to have the party the day after Thanksgiving because all her relatives were already in town.  We had a great time celebrating such a special woman!

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I am so thankful for Grant, our kids, our families, and our friends.  I'm glad we got to see so many of them over the past few days!  We are surrounded by love and we have a lot to be thankful for!

6 comments:

  1. Awe, sounds like a crazy but fun day! Cute pictures as always!

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  2. Glad you all had a nice Thanksgiving!

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  3. Sounds like you all had a wonderful and very busy Thanksgiving! Can you believe it's December already?

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