Our Thanksgiving Weekend Thus Far

Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and/or a great first day of Hanukkah? We did, that's for sure! Oh, our families are all so good to us, they love us no matter what. I get so sentimental around the holidays (or maybe I am all the time lol) and I remember all my fond memories with my family members. We are so lucky to have such a great group of people who love my children and surround us with security, happiness, hope and love. They help us with so much and we are endlessly grateful for them! Love you guys!

We started out our Thanksgiving morning with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the tv. We had toasted bagels with strawberry cream cheese and cereal for breakfast. Alan and Anna both enjoyed watching the parade. Alan really liked the Power Rangers, Finn and Jake, the Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles and Spongebob. He was also quite excited to see Santa at the end. Anna enjoyed watching all the marching band performances with the dance teams, the Mad Hatter dance group, the Seasame Street float and the Build-A-Bear float. She wasn't too impressed with Santa lol, but she is still little. After the parade, we went to Grandma Amber's house for Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. Grandma Amber, Grandpa Steve, Uncle Tyler, Aunt Sam, Uncle Chase, Aunt Ariel and the neighbors were all present to eat. Alan was really into eating the turkey and the stuffing this year, he refused to touch anything else. Anna tried a little bit of everything, off of just about everyone's plate lol. There are advantages to being the baby in the family with lots of aunts and uncles. I was just glad both kids got their bellies full! After eating some turkey, I convinced the kids to let me get a few Thanksgiving pictures of them. Alan was only into it for so long and Anna just wouldn't have it at all. 

We went to Great Aunt Carolyn's house after our lunch. It was Lon's first time going up to their new house, he was not expecting the long drive lol. But he did like their house, thought it was nice and perfect for them! Great Grandma Carol, Great Grandpa Floyd, Great Uncle Jerry, Great Aunt Carolyn, Great Uncle Rick, Ashley, Cody, cousin Sophie, and Garrett were all there. It was so awesome to see Miss Sophie again! She has grown up so much and my kids love her tons, they couldn't wait to play with her! We haven't really seen them since her last birthday party, I think Alan especially missed her.  They took almost all of Sophie's toys out and played dolls in the dollhouse, went bowling, drove cars all over the kitchen and even attempted to play catch in the house at one point. Anna followed Alan and Sophie everywhere, occasionally messing up what they were working on, but she did her best. She loved having another girl to follow around and talk to!

We had a second Thanksgiving dinner with these guys. Man I was so full by the end of the day, I had two plate-fulls between both houses! But it was some good food, let me tell you! We had more turkey, more mashed potatoes, delicious corn, a mandarin orange jello dish and some awesome stuffing! Alan only had more turkey and stuffing but Anna ate a ton of corn, turkey, potatoes and stuffing herself! Those kids ate so well both times, Lon and I were so proud of them! Good job, little growing bodies! Here is a picture of the Kids Table at Great Aunt Carolyn's house.

I was really missing my family in Townsend on Thanksgiving. It has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember to go up to Townsend to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Since I have gotten married, we haven't had reliable enough of a vehicle to confidently take it the 200+ miles to town. I would just love to take the kids up there sometime soon, we love and miss that family up there so much. One of these years we will have a nice car and can go up there to celebrate with them but for now, picture messages from little sis Natalie will have to work. She has been sending me tons of photos from the trip. Of my nephew, my siblings, the whole family, I love them all. Here (Going clockwise) is my nephew Benton and Aunt Natalie at the Turkey Trot in Helena, almost the whole Welch family at Thanksgiving dinner this year, Uncle Kalvin and Grandma Melanie with Benton after the Turkey Trot races. Love you all and miss you! Happy Thanksgiving!

I worked this morning for Black Friday, we were surprisingly slow! It was a nice, short 3 hour shift with the kids, Alan even got to go play in the gym with the big kids! Then we came home and cleaned up the place a bit. I cleaned the living room, did a load of dishes, washed and folded two loads of laundry, and then made the kids leftovers from what we got from Grandma Amber's for lunch and dinner. It was not the typical Black Friday, but a very productive day regardless! Aunt Natalie sent me Benton's first photo with Santa Claus, I almost cried. He looks so handsome and he was apparently so happy! He wasn't scared of Santa at all! If you remember, Alan JUST got used to liking the idea of Santa Claus last year lol. Anna still is totally iffy on the whole situation. So for Benton to be totally chill with Santa? Pretty cool little man, pretty cool...

Once it was dark out, we picked up Aunt Ariel and headed downtown to the Holiday Parade. Several of my cousins participated in the parade with their roller derby team and one of Anna's friends was also in the parade with his dad's towing company! Aunt Ariel, Alan and Anna enjoyed the parade very much! It wasn't too chilly out and we found a great little spot. Alan got a lot of candy and a cool flag to wave. And we saw everyone we wanted to! My favorites were the bagpipe band and the horses. Alan really liked all the military and police force, and the candy, of course lol. Anna's favorite totally was the boat full of Disney and Seasame Street characters. But she just loved all the lights and music and saying "hi" to everyone she saw lol! It was a great little parade, that's for sure. All the kids had a good time!

We have had a great weekend so far! I cannot wait for the rest of it! I work in the morning again tomorrow and then am off for the rest of the weekend! Aunt Natalie and Benton will also be staying over on Sunday! And we are going to try and get tickets to Seasame Street Live Sunday too. Benton, Alan and Anna will love it! Aunt Natalie and I also want to try to get Santa Claus pictures at the mall with all three cousins! I am so excited for this weekend! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving too! Have a safe Black Friday and a wonderful weekend!