Our Thanksgiving Weekend in Pictures

For the past year, my Grandpa Max has been planning a family trip to Branson with our extended family to celebrate this year's big events- his 80th birthday and he and Grandma Bobbie's 60th wedding anniversary.  So, on Thanksgiving morning, almost 60 of us (including 20 kids younger than 15) loaded on to a charter bus for an 8 hour drive.  We had such a great time with the whole family over the 4-day weekend.  There was plenty of time for relaxing, swimming at the hotel's water park and shopping.  We attended several shows- Dixie Stampede was my favorite.  They served dinner during the show, and we saw the Christmas portion of the show, plus they did their usual horseback riding "tricks".  Here's the whole group before the show:

And here's I-man and I on the way back to the hotel.

 We went to an outdoor mall called The Landing one afternoon.  The weather was beautiful and perfect for outdoor browsing.  The above picture could describe my usual look...I'm digging through my purse trying to find my phone.  Someday, I will learn to buy small purses!

 I'm not sure if this is a real tree or not, but I still found it impressive.

 I loved the unique architecture of the stores.

 Sporting my bargain of the day- a $9 scarf from BCBG...a store I would never buy from at full price!

 I was happy to see Nathan...he had gone to Bass Pro with the guys in the family that morning while us girls checked out an outlet mall.

 Thanksgiving 2011, our second one as a married couple.  It's funny to be that we're already doing holidays the second time...it seems like we got married yesterday!

 Out for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  We enjoyed our lunch, but I could have passed on all the servers taking a 5-minute break to dance every 15 minutes.  

 9-month-old Elliana (and her mom) dropped in for a visit before we left for a show.  

 Here's her big sister Gracie.

 Just so you know, his eyes are closed on purpose!

 Sweet Benjamin sleeping on Therese's lap

 Madeline and Uncle Nathan

 We went to a show with these three hillbilly guys- they provided the silly part of the show, for sure.  The boys thought they were the best.

Mom, Dad and Isaac on the bus

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This picture isn't from the trip, but it is too cute not to post.  It looks like they are making the same face at each other.

Tomorrow I head back to see my hand surgeon.  I'll get my stitches out and hopefully be released from wearing this splint.  And just as I was getting fast at typing with one hand....

Fall Party

I hosted my mom and two youngest siblings, sister Megan and her four little guys, and Krista with her two little girls for a Thanksgiving party.

 In the past year, I've learned that the happiest people make the best of what they have.  So, for this party, I used the super cool ideas I found online, and then altered them to fit my budget and my home.  Case in point: the 1980's-style light.  Definitely not the ultra-chic chandeliers hanging above most party-guide photos, but it isn't so bad with four fall-colored paper flowers (total cost: $2.50) hung from it.  A big round of applause goes to Nathan for folding paper flowers with me a few nights ago.  They're a little tedious with only one hand.

 The centerpiece is from sticks found in my back yard, a vase my mother-in-law found at a resale shop for a dollar, ribbon saved from a gift from a student and a little construction paper.  One of the projects I did with the kids was to have them write (or draw) what they were thankful for on leaf shapes cut from construction paper and then hang them from the branches.

The runner is something I bought with a wedding gift card (so free for me), and the pumpkins, candles, leaves on the plates, and wooden acorns were purchased at Hobby Lobby last week during an 80% off sale.  That made the pumpkins, according to big/medium/tiny $2/$0.80/$0.40.  I had everything set up but thought I needed a little something more, so I added the scrunched paper napkins to the glasses for one last pop of color.

 Here's the kiddos, pre-crafts.  Everyone except the two babies participated in crafts.

 My mom and her youngest grandchild, 9-month-old Elliana.  

 My college friend Evelyn was able to stop buy for a few hours and join in the happy chaos.  Here she is with sweet Benjamin.  They are in the basement where we were doing crafts.

 Pilgrim Evangeline.  We like to call her the family's "cherry on top".

 My oldest nephews, Samuel (6) and William (4).

 My brother Isaac.  He is such a good leader for all the kids.

 Evelyn and I after lunch.  

I didn't really get pictures of the food, but we had sloppy joes, tomatoes, carrots and broccoli with dip, chips, taffy apple salad, pumpkin muffins and chocolate pumpkin-shaped cake.

The cake also had a stem, but you can't see it in the picture.

 We tried really hard to get a group shot as everyone left.  But with 8 kids under 10, this was the best that we got.

Nathan stopped in during lunch and we were able to grab a quick photo...check out the swollen, sausage-like fingers I have here!

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you.  

I hope you have a wonderful holiday 

surrounded by the people you love.

Nieces and Nephews

If these sweet faces don't make your day brighter, I don't know what will.

Happy Tuesday!

My sister Krista's girls

Megan's four

 Gracie and Madeline

 Baby Benjamin

 I think I'll get to see Krista's girls this weekend.  They live in Chicago, so they grow up a lot between visits!  Megan lives about 30 minutes away, so usually I get to see those nieces and nephews once a week.  Uncle Nathan is a favorite with the older boys because he plays Nerf wars!

Baby Elliana