On Sunday Bailey posted a #givethanks message on Facebook about Ryker that I thought was really sweet.
The Lutes family came over on Sunday for lunch and to hang out, they came in their Christmas Jammies so I could take their annual Christmas Jammie photo. Leona looked like a cute squishy ball and the girls had fun loving on her.
They got a really good one this year. Everyone is looking at the camera and looking good.
On Monday I took Avynlea to the DMV so she could take her written test. SHE PASSED and we have another driver in the family! After she was done we went over to the Lutes' to visit with them. Mallory said Joshua and the boys walked out the back door right when we came in the front door so we didn't;t get to see them. We hung out with Mallory for a bit but then left when it was close to lunch time. On the way home I remembered that Aynlea was supposed to go over to the Wilcox's to rake their leaves so when we got home I let her take the Traverse on her first solo trip ever to go rake the leaves. A little bit later Mallory sent a text inviting me to go over for lunch but I had already eaten and I didn't have a vehicle so I wasn't able to. Plus I was really tired and wanted to take a little nap.
A couple of hours later Joshua sent a text saying they were on their way over and when they walked in the door I was shocked to see Heather walk in with them. I asked her what she was doing here and then I burst into tears. I was so excited to see her! She said that she bought a plane ticket in September and wanted to surprise me so she enlisted Joshua's help, he picked her up from the airport. That is what he and the boys left to do when we went to their place earlier. I thought Mallory was being a little weird about where they went..hahaha. I love surprises and this was one of the best ones I have ever received! I could see Joshua taking pictures out of the corner of my eye when I was hugging Heather so I covered my face cause I knew I was doing an ugly cry.
Monday night Andrew Brown, Ashleigh and Atticus left their house and drove all night to get to Meridian by about 9 the next morning. It was so fun to see them and I was so happy that they made it safely.
That night Andrew Brown did a workout with me, Heather and Ben. When Ryker got home after work he joined in on the fun. Atticus was wandering around the group and he would come over to me and have me pick him up so I tried to do what I could while holing him. If I needed both arms I had to put him down but I liked that he came to me to have hold.
It snowed on Tuesday and the Brown family took Atticus out for his first experience in snow. He loved being outside and really resented when it was time to come back in. He is definitely an outdoor boy and the cold and wetness did not bother him one bit.
One of the kids brought down the big bear for the little boys to play with and they loved him. Fredrick especially was a bit enthralled calling the stuffed animal "toy bear" and sitting on him whenever he could.
We arranged to have Lana take family pictures of the Brown family and they turned out so cute. Atticus got tired of getting his picture taken and refused to do more so I took him off and talked with him while Lana took some couple shots of Ashleigh and Andrew Brown. They wanted a few more with Atticus so I promised him ice-cream and got him to join in on a few more. He did such a good job and was so cute with his parents and he for sure earned the small ice-cream cone he received as soon as we got back home.
Fredrick and Amos love watching their Dad play Minecraft and they loved watching Ryker play the game on his computer. I love watching Ryker with his little cousins, he is so patient and good with them.
For another #givethanks posting Kenedy put this one up on her stories about me. It made me feel pretty special and loved, I have such sweet kids.
Wednesday night was designated Sisters Girls night for me and my sisters. We invited Mallory to join us but she wanted an early night in with her family and opted out. I had some daughters that wanted to join in and were a little bummed out that they couldn't but I know I needed as well as some of my sisters needed some sister time without big ears listening in. So it was just the four of us and we had such a good time. We went to Hobby Lobby first and when it closed we went to target, after we got done at Target we went to Sonic to get some drinks and we sat in the Sonic parking lot until about 11 when we went back to our house and sat in the car in the garage talking for a long time before we finally made it inside where we were joined by Isabelle, Kenedy and Avynlea. The 7 of us had so much fun talking and laughing that we stayed up so late and I didn't make it to bed until about 3 in the morning. I have not had a late night like that in a long time but it was so needed and so good to have some sister time.
Ryker and Avynlea had wrestling matched with Ben and Isabelle. I love when my kids are able to spend time with their cousins and they love it to and make the most of their time by hanging out and having fun.
Thanksgiving morning found my three girls on the couch with their cute cousin Fredrick I love how the little ones love their big cousins so much and vice versa, they are all so sweet together.
Kenedy did Isabelle's makeup for her and she did a beautiful job, no surprise there, Kenedy is really good with makeup and always does a great job.
Meanwhile Rylee spent time singing and playing with sweet little Leona, it was adorable.
Kenedy and Kefford did their annual carving of the turkey and did a great job as usual.
The older cousins did a little photo shoot out on the porch minus Ryker and they all look pretty darn cute.
Rylee continued the photo shoot by taking some selfies with Fredrick.
Kenedy wrapped up her week of #givethanks by posting about her Dad.
Such a large group this year and I love it, it has been so much fun having so many members of my family here and in our home. It has been such a fun Thanksgiving week, I don't want it to ever end.
Joshua made rainbow jello for our dinner and Kefford had fun having pictures taken of him biting into one.
Some of us bought thanksgiving shirts with some of our favorite foods on them. We looked pretty cute in our food shirts.
Sweet, squishy Leona
Pictures of our families
We had a plethora of pies this year. Isabelle bought a pumpkin pie, Andrew Brown made an Apple pie and I made a coconut cream pie, a chocolate cream pie, a pecan pie, a key lime pie a butterscotch pie and a cherry pie. I did good on baking pies this year, it was a lot of fun.
Us girls have all recently been bit by the cross stitching bug and a lot of the week was spent with us cross stitching while visiting with each other. It was a great way to keep our hands busy while being present in the conversations and kept a lot of us off our phones. I loved every minute of it!
Andrew Brown brought his boxing stuff and incorporated that into our workout on Friday night. He had me pair up with Ryker and it was not fun holding up the gloves so he could hit them. You can tell by my face that I was a bit scared by it all. hahaha
Amos turned 4 and we got to celebrate his birthday with him! One of the funniest moments was when Maos came out in my hat, Andrew Browns boxing gloves and his hitting gloves on his feet. That was comical alone but when he said that the shoes were hard to keep on I dies laughing. Little kids are the best!
