Thanksgiving in Michigan

In this picture- Back Row (Katherine:James' girlfriend, Mary, James, Joe, Amy, Jen, Bob, Xavier, Tim, Liberty, Jeff, Kameron, Dave, Suzy, Cory: Suzy's boyfriend, Reva, John)

Middle Row (Gabe, Grace, Celeste, Me, Gavin, Dad, Mom, Holly, Ezra, Katie, Allison, Zach, Eli)

Front Row (Amelia, Lillian, Abbigael)

This picture sums up our Thanksgiving this year..FAMILY! The entire family was at Thanksgiving for the first time in two years. It was a wonderful time of celebrating family and all our blessings.

Our family spent 9 days in Michigan (minus two for driving). Xavier got to go to his friend Yohann's birthday party, play with his friends Connor and Aiden, eat dinner with his buddy Bauer, hang out with his best girl friend Skyler, and have multiple cousin sleepovers. He was in heaven. Xavier and his cousin Amelia were two peas in a pod. They really enjoyed playing dinosaurs together. Uncle John even took Xavier on a uncle and nephew outing so me and Tim could go on a lunch date at Sansu. Good sushi is hard to come by in Easton, PA.

At Thanksgiving all the boys and some of the girls played the annual football game. Thankfully there weren't any injuries this year. We ate a great spread of food and went around the room saying what we were grateful for. I always seem to be the cry baby and this year I managed to maintain that title. I cried once again, because I am so happy to be a part of such a great family.

Xavier, Gavin, Tim and I got to go see Suzy's boyfriend Cory play hockey too. That was probably the highlight of Xavier's visit. Before the game started Xavier and Tim walked down the the first row of seat and Cory tossed a hockey puck over the glass. Xavier clutched the puck and didn't let it out of his hands the entire game. Then Suzy bought him a mini hockey stick. After the game we waited in the family waiting room. Cory came to say hi to us and Xavier showed him his hockey moves on the carpet. Xavier said, "All I need are some skates, a hockey helmet, and some pants!" Later Xavier informed Grandpa that he didn't like sports anymore, just hockey. I think this sport is right up Xavier's alley. Cory has created his biggest fan! And who knows, I'm sure as X gets bigger Cory can teach him some pretty sweet hockey moves.

The highlight for me was spending a Xavier-free night with my hubby. Joe and Amy and me and Tim got hotel rooms in Grand Rapids while the kids spent the night at Grandma and Grandpas. Then we went shopping on Black Friday. We weren't the crazy doorbuster shoppers, but we did have fun enjoying the masses of holiday shoppers and glad we weren't set on anything but to enjoy some shopping.

Tim was able to watch the MSU vs Penn State football game with his dad and then we enjoyed our last evening at Joe and Amy's. Everyone was so great in letting us crash at their houses during our visit. As always, time went by way too fast. Our drive home went very smooth and now we are getting ready for my favorite time of year....Christmas!