turkey day

Grandma and Papa hosted Thanksgiving this year, and within minutes of being at their house, all the kids were back in the craft room coloring!  Colby refers to this room as "the drawing room" and this is where you can usually find the kids when they aren't outside playing in the backyard.  It was actually pretty chilly on Thanksgiving, so they colored a LOT of pictures. 

We really only ventured outside to take some family pictures.  Doing a family picture on Thanksgiving has become the norm the past few years, and no matter what anyone wears, it always seems to coordinate pretty well without the fuss of actually trying to coordinate.

Since they now own the lot behind their house, we decided to take the pictures along their new fence line.  It sure is a blessing to live so close to family, especially during the holidays!

My kids were quick to rush back inside the house (it was cold and damp), so we took the grandkid picture indoors this year. 

After pictures, it was finally time to eat! Papa had asked the kids to make place cards for our Thanksgiving table and it was fun to see what they all came up with.  Brooke and Colby did leaf rubbings for our assigned people, and I love how they turned out.  Oh, and the food was delicious, as always. Why don't I make sweet potatoes more often?  That was my only assignment, which made things super easy.

Cheers to another great celebration of gratitude! I was honestly a little worried about my emotional state heading into this holiday, and I was worried that I would lose it if we started talking about all that we have to feel grateful for.  I knew we would talk about the Peacock's baby, which of course we are all excited about, but I just felt too emotionally raw to not also feel an overwhelming grief that we didn't have that same blessing to look forward to. But, we kept things light and I did just fine.  I do recognize all that I have to be grateful for, and I am immensely thankful for my family, the support and love of family and friends, and the knowledge I have that my Savior knows me and will not forsake me.  I know that things will get easier as time moves on, but for now, I will cling to those truths.

And continue kissing this sweet boy's cheeks :)  I think we went through 4 bottles of sparkling cider for the 10 people in attendance, haha. It's clearly a favorite!