Thanksgiving

Well, another Thanksgiving came and went.  There is so much to be thankful for this year.  We really enjoyed the time spent with our family.  It's always a whirlwind when we go visit, but always worth it.

Nora's first Thanksgiving!  Hangin' at Grandpa's.

We spent time with Doug's side of the family in the morning.  His dad makes the best Turkey!  We got to see his tree all decorated.  I always love his Christmas tree.  He has the big, colorful lights that just glow.  We tried to do the same, but could only find LEDs, which don't have that glow.  Ah, well.  He also always strings popcorn and puts it on the tree, but not until December 11, so we didn't get to see that.

In front of Grandpa's tree.  With only one sparkly shoe on.

His brother, Ronnie, and sisters DeDe, Emily, and Virginia were there.  Beth still lives in PA, and Melissa was out of town, so we missed them.  We should get to see them at Christmas though!

Nora fell asleep on her Aunt DeDe.  She rarely does that.  Must love her Auntie a lot!

It was also Virginia and Beth's birthdays on Thanksgiving.  We improvised with a candle on a sweet potato. Yum?

Nora hanging out with her Aunt Virginia and her cousin Mikey. 

In the afternoon/evening, we hung out with my side of the family at my Aunt Vonda's house.  It was a big shindig, and there was way more food than anyone could even eat!  Granny Bernice had her famous peanut butter balls.  They were delish, as always!  We got all of the little girls together and got a picture.  It's wild how quickly they are growing!  Time flies...

Nora got to spend some time with her great-grandmother, Marj.

This picture cracks me up.  Nora is blowing raspberries because she is teething. 

My sister and I decided to be dorks and do weird poses. 

Had to get one of all of us girls!  Nora and Edie are unimpressed.

A silly picture with the little ones.  Marquel's Abigail, Michele's Edie and Judy, Jimmy's Rachel, and Marquel's Aubrey. 

We have a tradition in my family.  When my grandmother passed away 20 years ago, we planted a tree in her honor near City Hall.  Every year since, we have decorated it for Christmas.  At one point, they took out the tree we had planted.  So now we decorate some random tree in the park.  But it still holds the same sentimental value to us.  And it's a good time for us all to get together and do something as a family.  Nora was asleep in the car the whole time, so we didn't get any pictures of her.  It was cold though, so I'm glad she stayed in the car!

Jason and Judy helping.  Judy is actually named after my grandmother for whom we planted the tree.

It's hard to get the whole tree in the picture.

Aztec put up a new nerdy sign, and we like it!  Our grandpa is probably one of the soreheads they are talking about.  He tried to have a cat leash law passed.  People were not happy about that!

Brandon, Ed, Abby, Aubrey, Gabe, Marquel, Judy, Greg, Edie, Jimmy, Rachel, Michele, Jason, Melody, Amanda, Doug.  The group changes each year, but we all try to make it when we can! 

 After decorating the tree, we went to A&W to warm up and have some lunch.  It is a must to eat there when we visit Aztec.  I've never seen an A&W anywhere else, except for in gas stations.  And those are way different and don't count!

Uncle Jim ordering hot chocolate.  I love how you use phones to order.

Yup.

Dad getting serious about ordering the food.  Rolled tacos for me.  Steak finger dinner for him. Root beers all around.

And hot chocolate.

  We went home after this, but had to drive back and stay for a couple of hours because there was an accident involving two semis that closed the road for 6 hours.  1 person lost their life in that wreck.  Sometimes it's hard to stay thankful, with all of the stresses of every day life.  But we can always be thankful for life, and for the lives of our loved ones.  We are thankful that God had His hand of protection on us.  We could have been involved in the accident had we left earlier.  Let's stay thankful this year.