Thanksgiving 2012

This year I made a "Thankful Tree" for November.  

The boys and I took a walk after Hurricane Sandy and collected many sticks that were still laying on the ground from the storm.  This tree is definitely symbolic of the blessings we received during the storm.  I thought it very fitting for the purpose it was being used.

I cut out leaves from scrapbook paper and every day each of us wrote something we were grateful for that day.  By the end of the month we knew how truly blessed we are and how much God loves us!

We traveled to Michigan for Thanksgiving as usual.  Our first stop was Jen's house.  Xavier and Amelia were inseparable.  

Our next stop was Kendra's house.  We went to this place called Treehouse.  The kids had a blast climbing and sliding and running and jumping on all the play equipment.  We also went to church with Kendra. 

Third stop was John's house.  Before we came to Michigan all Gavin could talk about was seeing Eli.  He was going to "jump" on Eli and "wrestle" Eli.  Here you can see they were instant buds.  We got to see Eli play basketball for his school.  He had a great game!

Xavier and Abbi had a blast together.  They are wearing their Jedi robes and reading a Star Wars book together.

Little Jedi bookworms.  I love it!  It sure made me miss living in Michigan and being closer to the cousins.

Eli took the boys for a ride on the lawnmower.

Fourth stop Gramma and Grampa's house!!  This is not your ordinary Thanksgiving.  To the boys delight we pulled up to this in the yard.  It was definitely a highlight to the boys visit.

Checking it out up close and personal.

There are 5 kiddos on this little swing.  Kameron, Xavier, Gavin, Ezra, and Liberty.  All they did was giggle and smile.  

Did anyone say football?  Well we usually play football on Thanksgiving, but James hurt his ankle this year, Mary had to leave early to get to her boyfriend's Thanksgiving, John's knees weren't doing too great, and Cory's finger was injured.  Our numbers were too low to have two solid teams to play against.

Turkey day!  Yum! Yum!

F-Fantastic people

A-Amazing food

M-Memories of good times

I-Infinite wisdom passed down generation to generation

L-Love all around

Y-Yakity Yaking with good company

After meal entertainment.  The targets.

No target practice for Cory.  

Girl's pulling out the big guns.

Reva going Matrix on us.

Since Xavier was born I've skipped out on the gun portion of the day, but this year it was time to prove that I hadn't lost my skills.  {I have usually proven to be a better shot than Tim}  So let's see if I still got it.....

Must have had a lucky day.  I shot the stick right in the middle.  AND

3 pumpkins pretty close to the center.  ( 4 out of 5 shots were pretty darn good)  Oh and did I mention, better than Tim's? 

The winning shot!

Our next adventure was being able to rent a hotel along with Joe and Amy and leave the kids with the grandparents for a night.  We saw the new James Bond movie and then did some Black Friday shopping the next day.  

Finally we ended our trip with a visit to Joe and Amy's house.  Xavier sure enjoyed hanging with his Big cousin Gabe.  Gavin got lots of love from the girlies Grace and Lillian.   

Every time we visit during Thanksgiving I am always reminded of what a wonderful family I married into.  So many wonderful, funny, smart, generous, loving people that I have the privilege to know and to call family.