Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving break we went up to Atlanta again this year to stay with my brother Jason & his family. We are so lucky to have him living right in the middle of us & my other brother Hyrum in Virginia. I have been looking forward to this weekend for a whole year!(the last time I saw all of them)  Laura decided to drive up early to visit a friend so it was just the four of us this go around. We decided kind of last minute that we would break the trip up into 2 phases. So Tuesday night right when Doug got home from school we hit the road.

We made it about half way & stayed the night in Jacksonville. We really didn't want to spend a lot of money for just a quick night's sleep so Doug convinced me to book a 2-star hotel from Hotwire. I was nervous when I saw that we would be staying in a Motel 8. Let's just say that nervousness quickly turned to disgust & fury when we arrived. OH MY GOSH! This place was a hole. Smelled like smoke & mildew, cigarette burns in the bedspread, dirty old..everything. Thankfully I brought my own pillow. Haha! We all settled down around 11PM and that is when disaster struck.....Liam climbed out of the pack n play!! What?!? This can't be happening. Not now, not tonight. It took us an hour to get him to finally stay in bed. But I don't think I slept more than a few hours with all the sounds & new paranoia that he was getting out. Then come 5:15AM he is awake & telling me he needs to go poo poo. Which he went by the way, on the potty too. And I did end up getting him to go back to sleep til 7:30. UGH! What a night.

We were excited to see cousins & siblings so the last leg of driving went by really fast. The boys did great & traffic wasn't bad at all. We arrived around 1:30PM & now, let the fun begin!

 Stomping on bubble wrap is oh so fun!

 Becki made a big pot of homemade chili for dinner & once we all served ourselves a bowl we just stood around the counter. It made me smile because is such a family thing to do. We all stand around chatting away as we fill our bellies. Good thing for their huge island so we all could fit. :) The kitchen really is the heart of the family isn't it?

After dinner we decided to start up the fire pit & have some s'mores. Yum!

 Tried to get a cute picture of some of the kiddos all bundled up & ready to roast. Thanks Logan & Hailey for actually cooperating. :)

 Uncle Jason & Gavin

 Norah, Anne, Sophia & Hyrum

 Love me an ooey gooey s'more & a warm fire.

 Me & my buddy Liam. I thought it was cute seeing his nose turn all red from the cold. 

Not many lasted too long as it was pretty chilly. But those of us that did had a great time catching up & laughing.

{Thanksgiving Day}

A few of us got up super early to run the Atlanta Thanksgiving 5K race. We were all a little nervous because it was FREEZING!!! Like 20 degrees freezing. We didn't really want to get out of the car once we got there. We joked that we should just stay in the car & tell everyone that we ran the race. Haha!

 Hyrum, Becki, Ashley & Me

 Jason & Anne

As soon as we stepped foot outside we were moving. Literally, we didn't stop moving our bodies because it was the only way to generate some body heat & not become solid. I was shocked when I saw other runners wearing shorts! Ok, weirdos, whatever. 

 The only group shot we got of all of us was pre-race. Don't mind my extremely cheesey smile, I couldn't feel anything. Haha!

We found some foil blankets that had been used by others that were just laying on the street. Kinda gross when you think about it that way, but we were soooo cold we didn't care. We wondered whether they were really making a difference. We felt better, but maybe it was a mental think. Haha!

 I love this picture of us girls. It was so much fun being with them. We sure missed Laura, but with her bad asthma she didn't want to risk a flare up due to the cold weather. We didn't blame her & were actually quite jealous that she was at home warm in her bed. And where is Doug you ask? Well he was going to run the race, but he refused to pay the registration. He doesn't think it's cool to pay to run. So he was just going to jump in & run with us after the start. Well when we realized how cold it was going to be, he decided he better stay home & hold the fort down. WIMP! ;) *I don't blame him. I paid, so I was getting my moneys worth*

Jason & Hyrum

These two crack me up! I just love being around them. They are so funny. Here they are staying warm.

And we did it. We all finished the race. I sadly fell behind as not one, but both of my knees decided to fail me. I usually only have problems with my right knee, but I think due to the extreme coldness everything was just soooo tight. I was in horrible pain & knew that this would affect the rest of my weekend, but I had to finish. So even though I finished last of the family, I finished. And I still did it under 29 minutes. So I was happy about that. And I was right. I could barely walk the next two days without feeling pain in every step. Stairs were the worst! At one point, I couldn't take another step so I looked around to make sure no one was watching & I plopped my butt down & scooted down the stairs. Haha! It was pretty funny. I guess I really should go get my knees looked at to at least determine how I can prevent or help fix it. Anyhow, moving on.

After we got all cleaned up it was time to start preparing the food for the day. I just love Becki's kitchen! It's so open & big....one day. :) It's always more fun cooking too when you're doing it with the ones you love.

 {Me, Becki & Laura}

 Me, Ashley & Jason peeling potatoes!

 Becki & Hyrum getting the turkeys ready. Gobble, gobble!

They invited some of friends over to join us & they brought the appetizers. Boy were they fancy!

 Bruschetta

 Tuna on potato chips

 Salmon cucumbers

 Dates filled with goat cheese

 Here are the table settings that Becki did. They turned out perfect!

 The kids table

 The adult & teen table

 I made some Apple Pie Caramel Apples for each family to take home as a favor. They turned out perfect & oh so yummy!

 

I brought a little craft/goodie bag for the youngest cousins to do together on Thanksgiving.

 {Savannah, Hailey, Gavin, Norah & Sophie}
Liam had zero interest in the craft. He ate his candy & bolted. Haha!

The only pic we got of the two of us together. Turkey Day selfie. But Jason's photo bomb is the best!

 Doug was a hit with the kids in making balloon animals & swords.

My boys just ADORE Logan! He's so good with them & plays with them. I'm sure he was sick of having little shadows after a few days, but he was always a good sport about chillin with the boys. :)

{Anne & me}

{Ashley & Liam}

 Let's eat!

Everything turned out perfect & was so delicious! It was quite a house full of family & their friends. Just as the holidays should be.

{Friday}
The men & McKay went golfing that morning. So the rest of us went to see Disney's Frozen. It was such a cute movie! All the kids loved it. Okay, I loved it too!

That afternoon we had a little photo session with all the cousins. Becki had the fabulous idea to give our parents a photo of all their grandchildren for Christmas. It was a lot of work to get all those happy campers to smile & look at Becki. But she is amazing & worked her magic.

 

 Becki insisted on getting a picture of me & Ashley since we were matchy matchy. I just love Ashley & think she is the most beautiful girl inside & out. I'm so proud to be her auntie. (Don't mind the purple socks eek!)


After all the hard work of taking the kids' pictures us ladies bolted out of there to go pamper ourselves with some shopping & pedicures.

Love these ladies & so happy to have them in my life.

That night Jason & Becki treated us siblings to an Atlanta Hawks game. It's always fun to see a good basketball game & spend some time together just as adults.

 Hawks VS Mavericks

Jason sandwich! When their friends were over for Thanksgiving they kept trying to figure out which of us siblings resembled another the most. It was decided that Jason & I look the most alike. I can really agree with that when I look at this picture.

 {Doug & Hyrum}

The whole gang! Such a fun night.

{Saturday}
Hyrum, Anne & the girls headed for home in Virginia that morning. They wanted to beat as much holiday traffic as possible. It's always hard to say goodbye to family. I hate that we only see each other once a year. But I am more than thankful for that! After they left some of us went on a little hike to enjoy the beautiful day.

I {heart} my family!

{Sunday}
After breakfast we started packing up & getting ready to hit the road. The boys however had other ideas.

Who doesn't love stuffing their bellies with pillows & body slamming into each other?!

It was so cute watching McKay interact & play with my boys. We really are so lucky to have such amazing nieces & nephews.

As mentioned above goodbyes are hard on us all. We are so grateful to live in a place where driving is even an option. I look forward to this tradition all year long & am already so excited for next year.

And this is what we hit about 2 hours from home. Ugh!