Noah is thankful for...

Noah brought this home from school at Thanksgiving break. "I am thankful for our home and our family." 

Me, too, Noah. And if one day years from now you read this...know that I'm thankful for you each & every day.

Annemarie's 1st Thanksgiving

Happy 1st Thanksgiving, Annemarie Grace! What a BLESSING you are to this family! Your daddy, brothers, and I love you so VERY MUCH! We are so grateful to have you and your preciousness this Thanksgiving.  I couldn't love you any more.  We are so thankful for our "darlin'."

Our Thankful Tree

This year, I wanted to get back to the basics in terms of our holidays.  So, rather than spending money on expensive table decorations, I wanted to focus on the reason for the holiday: gratitude.  As a family, we made a "Thankful Tree."  The boys hunted the sticks and then hunted acorns to put in a vase to keep the sticks in place.  Then the boys and I picked up beautiful fall leaves and brought the leaves home.  Each person wrote what they were thankful for on the leaves gathered.  We tied the leaves to the branches, and ta da! The Thankful Tree.  It made my heart SO happy and reinforced to the boys the importance of being thankful for our family and many blessings.  When family visited Thanksgiving and the days that followed, Noah asked family members to write what they were thankful for and add it to the tree.  It was so sweet.  I think this is a tradition that I want to keep! We have so much to be thankful for...especially this Thanksgiving of 2014.  

Thanksgiving in Austin

At the last minute, Susie called me and asked if I wanted to take a road trip to Austin to visit Denise. Susie was off work, Dad is retired, and I'm on maternity leave.  Michael couldn't go because he had to work. I said yes, scared of driving to Austin with a newborn and 2 kids.  But I'm so glad I did! We didn't plan on doing a "Thanksgiving" meal, as all of us had other plans for turkey dinners on Thursday. But at the last minute, Susie & Denise made a mad dash for Central Market, we whipped up some potatoes and voila! A meal fit for a feast.  It was SUCH a nice visit. I can't wait to do it again.  I love these people.  THESE are my people.

Thanksgiving at Oak Hill Montessori

Mommy, Daddy, & Annemarie joined Noah & Jackson for their Thanksgiving feast at Oak Hill Montessori school today.  It was such a GREAT time! The boys were so happy and thankful that we all came...and they loved having their baby sister there to show their friends...it was just special. Love my family!

Thanksgiving 2013 fun memories

Thanksgiving 2013 with Grammie, Paw Paw, & The Carliles

Thanksgiving 2013~
We actually celebrated Thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving this year in order to have our big meal with the Carliles and Paw Paw.  It turned out just lovely.  Michael's mom kept saying that I was very calm, which I was for some weird reason. Cooking a big meal for folks isn't my gig! Michael's mom did most of the cooking, although I still made fruit salad, cookies, mashed potatoes, and my mom's recipe for stuffing...which made if feel like Thanksgiving to me.  I had coloring sheets printed up for the kiddos and they had a nice little time coloring and feasting.  It was just a nice time. Family and good food.  Happy Thanksgiving!

THanksgiving Eve fun

 Grammie & the Carliles joined us for Thanksgiving night and the boys had SO much fun playing with Alice and Aunt Rebekah.  The boys would run to Rebekah and she'd catch them and fall over. She burned some serious calories! Their faces are just priceless! Then I iced cookies and we did a little late-night cooking. Great night!