Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite weekends!

I love it for many reasons. I love the food. I love being with family. I love the long weekend. I love having another reminder of ALL that I have to be thankful for (and that list is quite long.)

At the top of my list, along with many other things, are my two boys. I couldn't be more proud of these cute kids. I feel so blessed I get to be their mother. Here are Ryan and Brady with their cute football shirts that I made for The Ribbon Retreat Blog.

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's family. Everyone was there (except Nancy of course... we missed her and Jonathon!) Grandma always goes all out with decorating the tables and it makes me feel extra warm inside.

My mom made these cute little turkeys.

Not only are they cute, but they are delicious.

We had the yummiest dinner. I love good turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, oh the works! Ryan loved it too and ate his whole plate!

Steven had a beard for "No Shave November." Looking good Steve! :)

Aunt Cynthia with the cutest little baby ever.

One of Ryan's favorite things to do is to go outside... of course. And it's even better at Grandma Ann's house. She has a fun trampoline in her backyard. And Ryan loves jumping and playing with his (second) cousins.

Here are a few videos of him jumping. He does really well. There are a couple cute videos of him. Unfortunately, Cooper was a little afraid to jump when Ryan was jumping. I was going to keep this part all cheerful and pretend Ryan isn't a little stinker sometimes, but I thought I better show the truth and someday hopefully Cooper and Ryan can laugh about it. :)



Here is the one where he is being a stinker. Just so you know my mom was recording. :)


The boys were playing in the pool toys and Ryan found this toy and thought it looked a lot like a flute! Thank you Little Einsteins for teaching him about instruments. Love his little song! :)


Ryan with Aunt Cynthia

Since Brady was a football, we had to do a pose. :)

We had a great time on Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for!

When we got home, Ryan totally crashed. Finally we got his jammies on and put him in bed. He slept from about 7:30 pm to 8 am. Not bad! :)

*****
One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving weekend is Black Friday. It just really brings in Christmas for me. AND I get most of my shopping done all in one day. The lines really stink, but getting that one thing that you waited for makes it worth it. Every year I say I won't do it again and then I do. It's like pregnancy and having a baby, you only remember the good parts! :)

My mom came down to babysit the kids while Jared and I were going to go shopping. Well Toys R Us opened at 9 pm so my mom joined me for that. Then we found out that Walmart opened early too at midnight. And then we found out that Kohls (another place I wanted to go) ALSO opened at midnight. So instead of Jared and I shopping, it was my mom and me shopping. It ended up being a blessing because I don't think Jared's back could have handled it. I seriously forgot about how long the lines are. I don't know how I forgot, but I sure did! :)

Our first stop was Toys R Us. The line wrapped around a bit in front and then wound around RC Willey around the back. We waited in that line for 2 1/2 hours before we got in. And while we were waiting in line, someone drove by and pepper sprayed the line. We were all coughing and coughing. Someone called 911 and the fire department and police showed up. Some people!

Once we got in I ran to get what I wanted while Mom stood in line. There were three Leapsters left and I got one! It was 50% off, which made it a great deal for me. We were told the line for the registers was another two hours. Fortunately for me, my mom is deaf and somehow got up front. She was so close she was letting people in front of her while she was waiting for me. :) When I met up with her I asked her about it and she swears she got in the end of the line. So our wait time in line... 10 minutes. And we were off for Walmart!

We went there to get Avatar the movie for Mom. It went on sale at 10 pm and it was about 11:45 at this point. We couldn't find it any where. I decided then that I should get our new printer at Walmart instead of Office Max so we were there for the 12 am opening of the electronics. I got my printer with plenty left. It was actually really nice not having to wait in a line! While we were in a two cart line in electronics, I saw Avatar in the cart of the people in front of us. I pointed it out to Mom and she said to ask the lady where she got it. So I asked and the woman said, "Oh! Do you want it? Here! Have it. Merry Christmas!" We couldn't believe it. It was SO nice! And it made me feel a heck of a lot better about dragging my mom out on Black Friday. :)

Next we headed over to Kohls. I HAD to go there for some stools. I have been needed stools for two years. I waited for Black Friday to get some because they are so cheap. I got my three stools for $25 each. But the thing I hate about Kohls is their line. We waited in line for the cash registers for 2 1/2 hours! If it wasn't for those stools, I would have left. Mom was such a good sport. A quick trip to Toys R Us turned into a 6 hour shopping trip with lots and lots of waiting. She's a trooper!

And to put a cherry on top, she got to have her picture taken with Buddy the Elf. She was pretty happy about this. (This picture was taken at 2:30 am.)

We finally got home and hit the sack! Grandma is so great. I told her that when the boys woke up, she could come and sleep with me in my bed. She just got up and helped Jared with them while I slept. We love her.

The next morning Jared and I did do a little bit more shopping. Not much though, and we ate lunch at In N' Out. Grandma babysat and took some fun pictures of the boys.

Ryan thought it would be fun to dress up in Brady's newborn picture outfits and basket. He's lucky I'm not showing the other pictures. :)

"Row row row your boat!"
Ryan learned that song doing this. :)

We have tractors in front of our house everyday. It's a little boy's dream. Ryan ALWAYS asks if he can drive it. I used to say that we weren't allowed and then Grandma let him. So now my answer is, "You'll have to wait until Grandma comes so she can take you." Of course, he did just that.

The next night we were going to Carl's Jr. to play in their play place and Main Street was completely blocked off. While were trying to go around and find a way back, we noticed it was blocked off for a parade. We hopped out and watched this annual light parade in Spanish Fork. We were very much under dressed and it was cold, but it was still a lot of fun. Ryan loved it!

And here are a couple videos of the parade. The last video is when Santa drove by. That was really fun for Ryan!




All in all, we had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! And it was a perfect introduction to the Christmas season. Having a little one who kind of understands what is going on is the best! I love being a mom. (And a huge thanks to my mom for all her help!) I love my little family! :)