The Week of Thanksgiving

The Week of Thanksgiving

• 12.01.2015

We enjoyed a busy yet relaxing wonderful break from our daily grind last week as we celebrated Thanksgiving!

I think it all started Tuesday morning when Levi and I showed up--along with a host of other parents and little siblings--to the annual Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast at school.  Those innocent five and six year olds didn't disappoint in their cuteness.  Jed walked in wearing his handmade Indian costume eagerly looking for me.  I'm so glad I was there to witness it.  He was sooo excited to show off his costume and say his lines!  Levi, on the other hand, was just excited to eat.  Haha.

We wound up bringing home an entire untouched Costco pumpkin pie with us.  I had no idea that Costco pie would be so tasty!  For $6, I may never make my own ever again.  Not kidding one bit, between Levi and I, we ate an entire half a pie in 24 hours.  Gobble!  Gobble! 

Wednesday morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of white snow!  Add on the fact that there was no school and I was officially in vacation mode.  The kids and I dressed up and played for a full hour together in the front yard while the snow continued to fall.  I attached a rope to one of the boys' sleds and proceeded to drag them around.  The boys were all smiles from there!  Whew.  I think I need a four wheeler or something.  That was a workout.  But their giggles and laughter made it all more than worth it.  Can't wait to play again. 

^^Jed has the right idea.  Future snow boarder right there.^^

^^Yummy!  What's with kids always eating snow?!^^

We decided to leave for the Nelson Dairy Wednesday evening to beat the potentially icy roads Thursday morning.  And we are so glad we did.  We had plenty of Nelson family Thanksgiving traditions to uphold and we weren't about to be late!

Our Thanksgiving morning began with more snow.  Why can't the magic of snow last all winter long?!  There's nothing like waking up to a layer of fresh powder.  It is sooo pretty!  All three of us, (Jed, Levi and I), were anxious to get out and play.  First, we gathered eggs... ahem, I mean chased Grandma's chickens.  Then Jed and Levi caught a tractor ride with Grandpa.  They were so excited they practically oozed happiness out their ears.  They think Grandpa hung the moon because who else could possibly be cool enough to drive real life monster sized tractors?  Levi even went out again the next night... in the freezing cold and dark.  He's a die hard fan.

But enough about the farm.  Let's talk food and traditions.  Flint and Bron smoked the turkey and ham this year.  Delicious!  And naturally, we had more pies than we knew what to do with.  It was a weekend of gluttony, I must admit.  After Thanksgiving dinner, we played games, opened up matching Christmas jammies, and finally broke out the store ads to plan our Black Friday shopping spree.

It was Nichole and Chantee's very first trip and I think Merri Sue and I indoctrinated the girls very well.  We were out the door by 6AM and shopped til we dropped, or actually, sat down to a warm breakfast at Perkins.  I love getting 90% of my shopping done in one swoop like that.  It really helps make the Christmas season feel less stressful for me.

Then we met the boys in Rexburg for our traditional bowling game followed by pizza.  Yum!  (I told you we ate a lot.  Haha.)  And we talked and teased a lot too.  Good times.  Oh, but I can't forget our little date Friday night with Kaleb, Chantee, and Call to play laser tag!  It's been so long since I've done something like that.  I got killed.  A lot.  But hey, it was a riot.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!    

^^Loving on the baby calves.^^

^^Happiness in a nutshell for Jed and Levi.^^

^^It always surprises me how cool something as ordinary as a stack of wood can become when given a few tweaks in Lightroom.^^

^^Beautiful log cabin looking quite festive and inviting during a snow storm!^^

^^Sandy, 'ol girl.^^

^^Snowball fight with Dad!  Notice how Bron is growing facial hair!!!  No shave November, or something like that.  I'm actually really liking it and so is he.^^

^^Eating more snow.^^

^^Freeezing in the single digits or not, I cannot get enough of these GORGEOUS frosted trees lately!^^

^^I know!  I need to force the family to get used to my camera.  We need more pictures of everyone, right?  Right.  Documentation is important.^^

^^The yummiest dinner and cutest name card!^^

I feel so very blessed to belong to such an incredible family whom love and work and play.  It's hard to put all my feelings of thankfulness into words because as I've looked around me this past month, my blessings become numberless.  It's the big things like a home and heat and food on the table.  But it's also the small things like the pretty light on that leaf in the picture above and the way Levi just thanked Jed for doing something thoughtful.  Every single blessing is no more important than another and they weave themselves into the most beautiful tapestry that is my life.  All these beautiful blessings and moments that I am surrounded with everyday but hardly take the time to notice!  I want to bottle up my children's silly jokes, chatter, and laughter, their limitless imaginations, and all the affection I am smothered with daily by all three of my men.  No, life isn't perfect, but I'm learning to appreciate the here and now.  And I feel so very happy and whole.  Life and God are good.