Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came and went in a flurry.  Time just seems to fly by!  We are so amazingly blessed by the love of family and friends.  We are so thankful for everything and try every day to take nothing for granted, most of all each other.  I will admit that, at times, tears well up in my eyes as I watch my children play simply because I am so overwhelmed by what miraculous blessings they are in my life.  There's no way I have ever done anything wonderful enough to deserve them, but I can't imagine my life without them! 

We are so thankful for all our amazing family (near and far)!  

While our week included a lot of celebrating and fun with family, it also included illness and pain.  My grandfather visited for Thanksgiving and we happily anticipated his arrival.  However, within 24 hours of flying here, he was in the hospital with some fairly serious illness.  He has been recovering slowly but surely and happily, we will have him in town with us for a while longer while he rehabilitates from his illness.  Keep the prayers coming for his ongoing recovery.

Photo time... 

In the absence of Dad/Grandpa/"Bapa" (he was at the hospital taking care of Grandpa/Great-Grandpa), the boys did a good job carving the turkey and making the mashed potatoes.

Sarah took over BaPa's chair. 

 And Austin had fun showing Grandma Dot his aircraft carrier toy and how it shoots things out of it (see the disks flying through the air? action shot!). 

The feast!

 The kids enjoyed the pies for dessert (pumpkin pie made by Michelle and Dutch apple pies I made).

Kevin showed Sarah how she could have the whipped cream piped right into her mouth.  

She went for it...

....but did end up gagging on it when she got too much all at once.  

Family!

Austin was excited to find the wish bone.  He and Sarah took hold of it... 

 ...and with a little help, pulled it apart.

 Austin was so excited about it, he didn't care who got the big end (Sarah did).

On Saturday, Michelle and Brian had us all over for dinner and some Notre Dame football!

Austin just got his new ND football jersey and he is SO excited about it.  He tells us that Saturday is "Go Irish day" and this Saturday, he couldn't wait to wear his new jersey.  We told him that the jersey was #5 and that #5 on the Irish football team is Manti Te'o.  We told him that Manti is on defense and that means that his job on the team is to tackle the guy with the ball.  Of course, this was our mistake because the rest of the weekend, he would holler "I'm Manti Te'o" and then tackle us.  I think Nanny took the brunt of the tackling, but she didn't seem to mind.

Supper time!

 Austin helped Auntie Michelle put some ornaments on her tree.  Ours is to come this weekend.

 Other fun...

Chatting on the phone.

And a brief demonstration of why a digital camera is a beautiful thing.  It is difficult to get 2 kids to smile at the camera together (especially when they're both crammed onto one chair).

These days, they will both say "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" and make silly faces while they are holding their "cheese" face.   Eventually they erupt into giggles and I get real smiles.

Sarah after finally kicking Austin off of his chair and claiming it for herself. 

And last but not least...I know the last football game put Irish fans into a funk of despair, but is this not the cutest little Irish fan ever?!

(P.S. I am writing this as the clock turns over past midnight and it is now officially December 1.  I'm really surprised and a bit thrown off by the fact that it is December and my grass is green!  There is no snow on the ground!  We had about 1-2 inches of slushy snow last weekend that melted within a day or so, but as we head into December in Minnesota, we have no snow in our yard. Weird!)