I love Thanksgiving. The kids get the entire week of school off, and Jon always has Thursday and Friday off from work, so it means lots of family time and a chance to go do fun things together. This year Jon's parents flew in from Washington and joined us for a Colorado Thanksgiving. We had a week jam-packed with fun activities for the grandkids, and they sure couldn't wait to spend every single second with grandma and grandpa!
Sunday night we had dinner and dessert over at our house right after church. Monday everyone met for lunch at Cafe Rio in Castle Rock, and while I got some long overdue dental work done (try 11 years overdue, ha ha) being Jon's patient, everyone else went back to Jeremy and Kylene's house to decorate gingerbread houses. The kids had a blast and they turned out so cute! My naughty kids have since eaten about 75% of the candy off of their houses, but they still smell wonderful!
Tuesday grandma and grandpa spent some one-on-one time with cousins Sophie, Isaac, and Jameson, while we ran errands and got things done around the house. Wednesday morning they officially "moved" over to our house for the rest of the week, and bright and early they took Lucy and Zach to the movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and had a wonderful time! They spent the rest of the afternoon making Harry Potter crafts like these wands, as well as some fun potion bottles they bought at Michael's.
As soon as Jon got home from work Lucy decided to open the birthday presents grandma had brought from Washington. She turns 10 this week, and she can't wait for her birthday to come! She was sure excited to have a reason to get to celebrate a little early while they were still in town.
Such a sweet picture of Lizzie and Grandpa from that afternoon. She is definitely happiest when she is being held and sweet-talked to! She loved all the extra attention happening last week!
That night we got some killer Mexican food from Casa Mariachi for dinner. Lizzie stole her very own quesadilla and wouldn't give it up for anything. I got all of my Thanksgiving sides prepped and finished for the big feast, and Jon, Jeremy, and his Dad took a "mans date" to the gun range to go shooting.
Thursday was so relaxing and low-key for us. I taught a special Thanksgiving Body Pump class that morning, and ended up staying home with Lizzie so she could nap while everyone else headed over to Jeremy and Kylene's house to help get ready for dinner. Between grandma, Kylene, and myself, we had quite a delicious spread! Yum! Kylene took some cute pictures of my little pilgrims and wild Indians:
Leah Gene, age 4 (definitely wild Indian)
Zachary Jonathan, age 7 1/2 (wild Indian)
Lucy Debora, age ((almost)) 10 (pilgrim)
Elizabeth Mid, age 10 months (not sure yet...)
We had a lovely feast with family-- the first one we realized since 2009, when we'd all been together in Washington, Jon's last year of dental school. I think we've added a few new family members since then! It was sure nice to be able to sit back and reflect on how much has changed, and how very, very blessed we are!
The kids decided to put on a special Thanksgiving play for us after dinner, which was more like an Indian massacre led by Squanto (Zach's role), than the educational drama Lucy had hoped for. This is the pilgrims sailing together on the Mayflower-- but the play had 13 scenes so I can't really remember anything else, ha ha.
Lizzie wants to be just like the big kids so this was her being funny and making everyone laugh.
She loved playing with baby Jameson, too. We finished up by having our banana cream pie and playing some fun games and then called it a night! Thanks to Jeremy and Kylene for hosting.
Later that night Jon and I had tickets to go see "Dr. Strange" while the kids were in bed. It was so fun to be out late and not worried about getting home in time for a babysitter! I thought we looked pretty cool for some old guys, and with the theater all to ourselves.
Black Friday was our last day of fun before grandma and grandpa had to fly back to Washington, so while I taught my normal Body Pump class, basically everyone else went to go see "Moana" which was reportedly super cute! Jon did some speed shopping with his Dad at Cabella's that afternoon, and then everyone met up at Red Robin for dinner.
These cousins sure get along well and never really seem to fight (knock on wood). They really love being together!
Right after dinner we headed to downtown Parker for a free carriage ride and to see them light the Christmas lights. Zach got a free martial arts lesson in the park and was pretty proud of himself for learning how to chop through a board. What a tough guy!
I absolutely love this Christmas carriage ride tradition! We started it last year with my parents, and hopefully will get to continue it every year from now on. Mainstreet is all lit up with snowflakes and Christmas lights and is just beautiful-- so much Christmas spirit!
The gang is all here! Six adults and seven kids crammed into a one horse open sleigh two horse open wagon. Merry Christmas!
The view of Mainstreet. I t is definitely starting to look a lot like Christmas in Parker!
Me and my "mans." (Oof, I guess the flash was a little too bright for Jonathan....)
Zach and grandma and grandpa.
Miss Lizzie was all bundled up against the Colorado cold and totally fascinated by the horses! She watched them almost the whole time.
I just LOVE these cute Cardon girls and think this picture turned out so sweet. They sang Christmas carols the whole time and had a blast together all week long.
We had such a nice time observing Thanksgiving with Jon's family and are so very thankful his parents were able to travel all the way to Colorado to be here with us. We are also SO thankful for all of the people in our lives who love and support us and bring so much happiness into our lives-- and realize what a blessing it is to get to share our journey not only with each other, but you too.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2016
2 comments:
It was a great time, we enjoyed every part of the week. The crafts and games were wonderful, the food was great, the carriage ride was a lot of fun. I will have to send you the video of the Karate demo....it is fun.
Thanks for a great week.
Nice! I wish I looked forward to my birthdays. Just think how you would feel if thousands and thousands of thoughtless people called you "Tom Turkey" on your birthday every year. I thought it would end after junior high but alas, the taunting and pain continues. I never should have stopped going to the therapist.
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