Thanksgiving 2009

We usually have two Thanksgivings a year because our families live somewhat close. We hit A's family first and then head over to my family.

As we were finishing our meal, we were serenaded by my nephews playing Christmas music on the piano and guitar. E loves her music. She sang along as she ate.

O and W finally conked out while we were there. O pulled up his borrowed pack-n-play mattress and fell asleep in this position. How?

My sister-n-law makes the BEST monkey bread and I love to devour it each year at Thanksgiving. A fresh, hot batch came out of the oven during our meal and I got a special delivery straight to my table. I heart monkey bread. Thanks J!

That evening we stuffed ourselves again with my parents. E felt special as she ate on the fancy plates and drank "sparkly" out of a fancy glass. We were sure in for a treat to watch E drink Sparkling Cider for the first time. You'd think someone spiked her drink! She was waving her "sparkly" around, gulping it, laughing and giggling. She was so excited, she slurred her words as she tried to speak. She wanted everyone to drink up. Hiccup! This is good stuff! Hiccup!

W and his crushed water bottle

Every year we head to the mountains to chop our tree and then have a picnic on the Blue Ridge. Last year we didn't go because there were several sick kids among us. We planned to go this year, but it had been raining prior to the weekend and when Thanksgiving rolled around the temperature plummeted with massive wind gusts and snow. Now, we've been there in similar weather conditions, but not with little ones...sooo, we decided to get our trees locally.

E and Pa searching for a tree.

O investigating.

Group shot

Every year I help my mom decorate her Christmas tree. This year E joined in on the tradition.

Discovering the cranberry and popcorn garland.

Finally! The day arrived when Pa unpacked his train and placed it around the tree. E was right by his side the entire time. She has been talking about Pa's train for months, and now, she and the boys finally get to enjoy it again.

Once we were back in town, our family went searching for our tree. We decided to go skinny this year. It looks great!
While we, ehem, while I was deciding between trees, E was running through the tree lot. There were a lot of trees ranging from 6 feet to about 20. So it was like running through a thick forest when we played hide and seek. Very fun.