Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We have been preparing the boys for this week, and Tommy couldn't have been more excited all week long. Every single day he would say, "Happy Thanksgiving today? Are we going to go to Granny's and Goggi's house today?" Although I had to tell him no at the beginning of the week, we still had a few fun things to look forward to before Thursday! On Tuesday, we went and saw Mrs. Kelly for speech. We brought both her and Mrs. Emily a Thanksgiving basket full of little goodies to thank them for all of their hard work with Tommy! After that, I took the boys to the park to play for a while, since the weather was so nice! Now, of course on the day I forget my camera, there's perfect lighting and no other kids at the park. I could've had so many awesome shots!! Anyway, moving on :) We actually went and had the boys' Christmas pictures taken on Wednesday. It was a total zoo in there--I will never do that the day before Thanksgiving again! Despite the 2 hour wait, the pictures turned out really good BUT you'll have to wait at least another week or two to see them!
So, we finally arrived at the long-awaited Thanksgiving Day!! Tommy was so excited--he grabbed his bag, and was begging to get in the car! There ended up being a big crowd at Granny's house this year (my Grandma). And, although Tommy was so excited to see Granny, Grandma, Granddaddy, NoNo, and LoLo, I'm not sure he was prepared to see the other 25 people! He did get a little overwhelmed at first, but after getting some one-on-one play time with Granddaddy and Grandma, he felt much better :) Ethan on the other hand, acted like he was perfectly comfortable hanging out with the crowd!
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| Tommy was practically dragging us out the door! |
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| Thanks for the cool puzzles Aunt Denise! |
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| Grandma and Granddaddy running around with Tommy in the backyard :) |
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| Tommy loves his Grandma and Granddaddy! <3 |
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| It was so nice to see my second cousin, Ivy--she lives in FL so we rarely get to see her! |
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| The beautiful Laura :) |
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| Uncle Allen isn't sure about all of this picture taking |
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| My cousin Katie and Tommy chilling over a nice snack of cheerios! |
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| Tommy thought my cousin Ryan was "soooo sillwee!!" |
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| Tommy enjoying a good laugh after Ryan was making faces at him :) |
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| High Five!! |
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| Tommy's clearly trying to explain something to Ivy! |
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| Aunt LoLo is giving Tommy a little comfort when he got overwhelmed <3 |
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| Snuggle buggle Aunt LoLo!! |
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| NoNo is so excited ;) |
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| Hi Tommy! |
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| Ethan looking for something special in that green solo cup haha :) |
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| Smile for the camera Brandon! |
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| My handsome cousin David and his dog, Bud |
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| Look at those gorgeous smiles from my cousins, Madison and Elizabeth :) |
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| Who is that sexy man?! |
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| Cheers Mom! |
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| What a sweet picture of my Aunt Denise and her daughter Elizabeth <3 |
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| Uncle NoNo trying to contain the ginge! |
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| Looks like Granddaddy had to step in for that task! |
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| Tommy is missing, but there are all the men of the family--what a good looking group! |
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| I love that Ryan is making yet another funny face, while most of the other men are laughing at the recently escaped Ethan, and wishing it was them! |
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| Tommy really enjoyed hanging out on Granny's deck.... |
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| he liked looking at the 3 big dogs that were also guests at this Thanskgiving, but only from a safe distance :) |
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| Plus, who wouldn't like to hang out and listen to Uncle Rodney's crazy stories!! |
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| Davey and Ethan playing around <3 |
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| Elizabeth tickling Tommy |
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| Time for dessert--how about raspberry pie! |
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| This is such a lovely picture of Brandon and his partner, Anna <3 |
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| Oh boy, just look at that face--someone's about to get into some mischief!! |
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| Off to the races!! |
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| Haha, another classic Ethan face. I'm telling you, when he gets tired, he really channels Dennis the Menace! |
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| I was so happy to get a decent shot of me and my big guy <3 |
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| Good ol' Thanksgiving photos :) |
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| Classic--thanks for taking my camera Anna! |
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| Hmm, is Ethan taking a little rest by leaning on the tree.... |
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| Oh wait--he's Ethan!! |
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| My little cat Ethan stuck in the tree :) |
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| Cousin Ryan handling the dirty work...that's all I'll say about that! |
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| I love a sleeping baby picture! |
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| So cute...and silent...for an hour :) |
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| My tuckered out boys <3 |
As you can see, the boys were worn out from their trip to Burgaw! They both slept for about an hour on the way home, but Ethan eventually woke up, which meant that Tommy woke up too :) We stopped by our house to force a 45 minute nap on Ethan, and then we were ready to head out again for part two of Thanksgiving!! And, special treat--it was also Uncle Nathan's birthday--yayyyyy!!! Tommy did a nice job of singing "Happy Birthday" to Uncle Nate :)
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| Uncle Nate and Tommy had a great time playing together! |
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| "Are you ready??!?" |
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| "GO GO GO!!!" |
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| Uncle Steven reading with Ethan! |
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| Kisses for Aunt Becky--she was laid-up after her back surgery :( |
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| Steven and Becky at their first Thanksgiving together! |
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| Ethan decided to get in on the action! |
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| Davey pretending to be high-class with my coffee :) |
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| Papa Bill and Ethan sharing a laugh! |
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| Smile for the camera E!! |
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| Goggi and Tommy had to go chase that crazy cat Bob :) |
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| A goodnight kiss from Papa Bill <3 |
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| Davey telling another one of his crazy stories! |
It was a really long but fun and fulfilling day. I love seeing my family members that I don't get to see as often, and like I was saying last week--celebration is good for the soul! Cheesy segue-way here....speaking of good for the soul, not much beats Laura coming over for a girl's night to share great food, drinks, and Downton!
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| Davey's new favorite Paleo meal: A medium rare New York strip steak with parsnip fries! |
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| Possibly my favorite--homemade beef stew--yummmmmmmmmmm |
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| And, cost effective--one big pot yielded me all of these!! |
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| It's time for a little Black Friday relaxation!! |
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| I love my LoLo!! |
So, that was my week, and I am very thankful for it! I have a wonderful husband, two amazing kids, and plenty of great friends and family. We are incredibly blessed, and that fact is not lost on us.
Life Lesson: Gratitude
So, it's a very cliche life lesson for Thanksgiving, but I'm okay with that!! I think particularly in America, we struggle with being grateful for all of the blessings we have. How many times have people gone into other countries and come back saying, "It's incredible--they have nothing, but they are so happy and grateful for what they do have." Meanwhile, there's the majority of us in America doing the exact opposite. This morning, our pastor spoke about worry, particularly in our culture. He reiterated that many times our lives are consumed with worry and anxiety, usually centered around an effort to have and/or keep more stuff. His prescribed antidote--gratitude. The parts of the brain that control worry are the same parts that control thankfulness. If you and your brain are occupied with anxiety, you don't have the capacity for gratitude. Much in the same way, if you are exhibiting a grateful attitude, it's hard to become anxious. It just makes common sense--if you are thankful with what you have, there is no need to stress out about having more. So, I charge you to expend your mental energy meditating on all that is, instead of wallowing in what isn't.
