Thanksgiving Weekend

I love Thanksgiving. It's not very often that a bunch of Blake's siblings gather together, but Thanksgiving is one of those times. We have made Thanksgiving and the days following into a fun, family weekend. Everyone chipped in and brought side dishes and our kids just played and played. Blake actually had Thanksgiving day off this year, which is pretty rare. Usually, I take the kids over to my in-laws alone and eat with everyone and then Blake comes and eats leftovers later on. It was really nice to have him around to enjoy the day with all of us.

 Playing dress up is always fun for Porter and Grams' house.

 Brooke and her cousins working on some crafts.

 The day after Thanksgiving is always "head up on the mountain and get your Christmas tree" day. This year, there wasn't any snow on the ground in the valley, but up on the mountain it was a winter wonderland! It was also super cold! The kids had fun playing in the snow for about five minutes before they started to freeze.

 Grant stayed toasty warm in the backpack.

 When walking through the snow just got to be too much for Porter, Pinch was nice enough to let him ride on his shoulders.

 Blake showing off his mad chain-saw skils

 We had hot chocolate and turkey sandwiches waiting for us back at the truck.

It was funny because the entire time on the mountain I was complaining to Blake, "Our tree is too small! It's tiny! It's not going to look good in our house." Yet, when we got it home, it was the perfect size! I had to eat my words and apologize to Blake. Also, where we put our tree depends on the age of our kids. When we don't have any little ones who are tempted to pull off ornaments, we can put the tree in front of the window. When we have little ones at home, like this year, we put it in the corner where we can block off access to it easier.

 The finished product: Our family tree 2015

This year, one of my heartaches (as silly as it may be) was that Brooke wasn't going to get to see Santa. I was planning to take the boys to see Santa at our library, but Brooke would be in school. We usually see Santa at the Breakfast With Santa event, but this year we are going out of town that day. I was so sad! I know we don't have many more years of Brooke believing in Santa and it was important for me that she get to see him. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it happen. On the Saturday following Thanksgiving, we just happened to be visiting an art show that my mother in law was involved in. We went late, when it was almost over and low and behold there was a Santa in the same building! He too was almost ready to leave. Had we been even five minutes later, we'd have missed him. I was ecstatic, and so were the kids! We rushed over so they could talk to him. I was so thankful for this tender mercy in my life!

 Porter didn't ask for anything. He just wanted to talk with him. He told Santa all about his toys at home.

 Grant did not enjoy Santa.

Brooke asked for an iphone (yeah, right). Santa told her he had something special in mind for her.