Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving began at Pastor and Becky's house around 8:30am

 It was a beautiful day! We had to make several trips back and forth from the car to get all the supplies in the house. Michael and Becky decided that our day should start with brunch. Brunch included: egg bake, biscuits and gravy, waffles, and O & H Kringle from Racine!

 The 15 of us ate our huge brunch while watching the Macy's Parade. I wish Michael and I would have recorded it at home (we didn't watch the whole thing) but Joshua loved what he saw. The best part was the SpiderMan act. We watched it twice and both times he was thrilled. The mommies and vicar Jake took all the kids outside for a parade of our own. We just walked around the block, but it was such a nice day.

 After our walk, the kids had some lunch and took a delightful nap during the Packers/Lions game. I tried to sneak in a few winks, but couldn't get comfortable enough. Michael and Becky had the kitchen under control. Becky's turkey was brined and delicious and Michael made a yummy duck.

 The kids did a nice job eating their Thanksgiving dinner!

 After dinner it was outside again! It was getting cool, but it was so nice for the kids to be able to run around.

 I wanted to be able to take some pictures of Joshua in his Packers gear! 

 Joshua found pine cones in the yard and was very excited about them. He wanted everyone to know what he found. Joshua tried to share his find with Gwen. She wanted none of it. He would set them on the table for her and she would push them on the ground. He would run to get them and give them back to her.

 It started getting cold and dark and we had to drag Joshua back into the house. He would have stayed outside playing away. It makes me think again about needed a house, he loves to play outside and it's harder for us living on the second floor.

Back inside, it was bath time! Gwen was taking a bath and Joshua saw the bubbles. At first, he was just splashing in the puddles. Then I asked him if he wanted to get in. To my surprise he said yes. He was taken a bath with Gwen several times before, but it usually ends with her laughing and splashing and Joshua screaming and crying. That's not how it went this time. They had a great time splashing and playing in the bubbles.

After bath time means bed time!! The children were all separated into their sleeping locations, while the adults set up Cranium. Men vs. Women. The Ladies gracefully won with a point to spare. Our evening ended around 10:30pm.

Thanksgiving was terrific! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people to be around and spend time with. One of my fears when moving across the country from my family was how were we going to spend our holidays. I don't want it to sound like we don't need our families or don't love them, but we have found more family, just family that's not related.  :)