Thanksgiving

We have been back for a few days now, but I have not had time to write until now. Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we dropped off the dogs and headed to Grandma's house in Ohio. We got a really late start. Soon, it was evident that not only were we not going to get there, for dinner, as we had planned, but we were going to be pretty late. Although it was a long trip, we took our time and went at a relaxed pace, so it was enjoyable. We arrived at Grandma's late but without the stress. Thanksgiving day was fun. We spent the day at Grandma's with all the cousins. Both the food and the company were good. My mother made the BEST EVER PECAN PIE.

The bigger cousins spent the day either outside, or in the basement. We did have a couple of mishaps and minor rules infractions, but all in all they behaved well and had fun all day. They played a lot of army outside, and I'm not sure what they played downstairs. LOL

Olivia had fun observing her cousin Jane Ann and eating lots of stuffing, sweet potatoes, Potatoes, Green Beans, and anything else that could be smashed enough for her to eat. Unfortunately having all that good food seems to have soured her on baby food. I have not been able to get her to eat baby food since. She and Jane Ann poked and pulled at each other a little and then did their own things. Olivia did something very special at Grandma's house this Thanksgiving: SHE CUT HER FIRST TWO TEETH. Yeah Olivia.

Friday, after Thanksgiving we all packed up and headed down to Great-Grandma Hardcastles house. On the drive down my younger brother's wife, Kristi, and their two oldest, Jesse ad Jacob, rode with us. The car was packed. Chris rode with my brother and their two youngest boys, Casey and Toby. It was a great ride. We had a good time talking about church, and kids, and football etc. . . . When we got there we met my mom and dad, and my older brother Joel and his wife Judy. It was the first time in 15 years that the whole family was at Great-Grandma's house at the same time. Not to mention the first time all those kids were in there at once. After dinner we went back to the hotel, put the kids to bed and then spent a couple hours playing UNO, and trying not to freeze out on the balcony of the room Chris and I were in. LOL. It was a lot of fun. The next day we all played in the pool for a couple hours. Olivia loved it, and even Jane Ann and Joel got in for a while. They were so cute splashing in the water. After everyone worked up a good appetite we went over to Great-Grandma's house for Lunch and then off to a movie. There were 17 of us at BOLT that day. It was a very cute/funny movie. Oh yeah I forgot to mention: When I packed up a bag of stuff to take from Grandma's house to Great-Grandma's house, I forgot to pack Zeke any shirts or socks. So, Zeke got some new KMart special shirts and socks that day. That night after most of the kids were in bed, the men sat out on the balcony and froze again while the girls went to Applebees for coffee and dessert. We had three hours without the kids. It was enjoyable. We were the last to leave Applebees. Actually, I think if we had sat there much longer they would have made us leave. LOL. Sunday morning we got up and going to be at Great-Grandma Deglows house for lunch.

As always, we got a late start. So, I called them and let them know we would be about an hour later than expected. We finally did arrive, and had a good three hours or so of fellowship and lunch. Great-Grandma and Grandpa Deglow got to see Olivia and Jane Ann for the first time. We did find when we arrived, that they had a little panic that day as they only found out about an hour before we got there that all 15 of us were coming. Somehow I had neglected to make it clear that ALL the grandkids and great-grandkids would be coming. OOPS. Sorry Grandma. When we left the farm I had a surprise for everyone (except Zeke).

Zeke kept my secret for over a month-- I'm so proud of him. I scheduled a night for the family at The WOLF LODGE. For those of you who don't know, that is a hotel and indoor water park. It was so much fun. It was nice to just be able to hang out with the our family. No where to go, no appointments to keep, just hang out. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. Olivia swam till she passed out, then slept next to the hot tub while I sat in it. She was so cute. Russell and Zeke ran the park on their own pretty much, and Daddy rode some rides with them while I watched Caden do the kiddy slides over and over and over and over.

After the water park the visit kinda just slowly came to an end. Chris flew out to work on Tues morn, and the kids and I went with Grandma to church to help with the Senior Christmas Luncheon. Then, I had a doctors appointment, and we did a little Christmas Shopping. That night I packed everything up and laid out everyones clothes to leave in the morning, and then wrapped all the gifts I brought with me. I was able to leave all but two of the gifts for that side of the family. YEAH. Christmas shopping is almost done this year. We had to shop early because we wont be around after the 16th. The boys are going to be opening some gifts on the 14th here, then some at Chris parents on the 27th, then some at My parents on New Years Day. Crazy. Wednesday morning we got up and drove back. We stopped on the way out to have lunch with Kristi and Stephen and their boys. Then we drove straight through to get back in time for Russell to go to church. He was a having a skit night and Toni was coming so it was important that we make it back.

Whew, I'm exhausted just thinking of everything we did last week.