Very Thankful...

Thanksgiving was exactly what it should be: a time to be with family and feel a sense of deep gratitude for all that we are and have. It truly was a fabulous holiday, as evidenced by the nearly miraculous family photo:

And the silly one that served a bribe to get the not so silly one:

Look at these two adorable kiddos:

And...we got to see Aunt Shannon for the first time post-surgery:

My dancer:

My weirdo:

Although I am in love with the photo shoot pics, I am also in love with the time we had with family.

Wednesday, Granddaddy and Grandma Judy made the trip up to see us. He is not a fan of pictures, but I managed to convince him to allow one:

This is a horrible picture, but it captured a moment:

Granddaddy was telling Evan how much he reminded him of himself. My heart is so, so full that we had the time to visit with him.

Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Napoleon. Brad is the official carver:

We feasted, and then we practiced Issa's competition hair:

Nana helped me remember how to use knox to hold the hair, and Issa has declared her bun a success!

Evan spent quality time with Tyler the Huge:

Issa helped Aunt Shannon wrap gifts:

Evan ate his weight in cranberry ice:

And convinced Papa to set up their own version of basketball, which involves shooting a ball into a bucket from a ladder:

He also convinced Aunt Shannon to play trains:

And these two pictures just melt my heart:

I think these two kind of like each other:

The photos capture many of the moments that made the day. We didn't get pictures of Jack and Audrey playing with Issa and Evan or Grandma and Grandpa's new puppies. We didn't capture all the snuggles and laughter, but we certainly will remember it. Sometimes, most times, there truly is nothing better than being with family.

Friday, we headed towards Tiffin, and without Aunt Shannon to capture moments we captured even fewer. Issa loved helping Grandma Pat cook:

And the cousins were reunited:

Saturday, we headed to Papa Don's, where there was much crafting.

The highlight, though, was going to see Lil cheer in her first JV basketball game. Considering I remember when this little peanut was almost too shy to walk down the aisle at our wedding, it was a thrill to see her absolutely rock as a cheerleader. There is no other way to put it. Since we live so far away, we hate missing these moments, and being able to be there for this one was incredible.

We are indeed very thankful, and we are already starting to get very holly jolly around here! Let the Christmas festivities begin!