We started our journey on Tuesday night, driving a few hours with a very tired baby refusing to sleep and finally stopping at a hotel three miles after she fell asleep. Wednesday, we finished off the drive and arrived at the home I had grown up with. I'm going to tell you now - I was lucky growing up. I grew up in a family that was loud, a little bit quirky (okay, a lot bit) with a whole lot of love.
And on that day that home offered a very long nap for our sweet little and then an epic dance party with her cousin Charlie.
I mean epic.
Then I spent the night churning out a little project, more on that later.
Thanksgiving day was about the pigtails and turkey dress....
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| Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade with her milk and cheerios. |
then breakfast at my sister's with pecan rolls, yogurt parfaits, quiche and sweet littles...
And... our annual family picture...
Not that the babies were thrilled about their picture, but all of the adults standing around yelling "YAAAY!" as loud as they could did confuse them long enough to snap one.
From there I finished my project. Everyone in the family sent me an email telling me why they were thankful for each other member of the family. I then compiled the lists and printed them for each member, glued them to pretty paper and marked their places at the table with them. (There is another table to the right of this one).
(If you've never seen someone strategically plan seating placement for 19 people, 7 of whom are little ones... you've never seen genius in action. One of my brothers and my oldest sister magically did this). I think everyone really enjoyed having that little piece of familial love to take home.
It was most fun reading it to the little ones. I got to watch my niece's face light up as I explained that these were the reasons everyone was thankful for her.
Oh, and I made turkey cookies, stemmed from a small addiction to pinterest. They were adorable, if I do say so myself and the kids loved them.
There was also just a little twinkle of Christmas as well. Because we won't see my side of the family for Christmas, we gave them their gifts now. I love giving gifts, so here's hoping they loved them, because it was so much fun to see them open them :).
Then I took a little trip with my daddy to cheer on our Cornhuskers. I hadn't gotten to go to a game with him in two years, so it was awesome being back.
It was a little nostalgic as well. The lumberyard we always meet my uncles before and after games (where my Uncle has been manager for years and years) is moving and this building is getting torn down for the new arena. It's funny, I've been going to games for 15 years, and this walk is so very familiar to me. We always sat at the same table, in the same chairs and ate popcorn while we waited for the parking to clear and the trains to pass. After the game, I would listen to my dad and his brothers talk about the game, and by listen, I mean half listen. The truth is, I love my team and I love going to games, but I'm not all that overly passionate about football in general.
After a late-night arrival home, we spent the next day hanging out with my sister and taking some really fun shots for her etsy shop. Twinkly Christmas lights make everything a little more magical.
Anni also made sure to leave her hand prints all over the glass doors.
Have I mentioned my husband is an amazing daddy? Well, he's a great Uncle, too. This scene makes me all the more excited that he's the one raising our baby with me.
And then, we ended our trip the same way we started. Dance Party.
Epic.
Umm... amazing post. First, your daughter is absolutely gorgeous. Second, the compiling what everyone is thankful for each person is so sweet and awesome and creative! Third, the dance party pics look like a blast. And last but not least, my Raymond was looking at this with me and went CRAZY when he saw the train tracks. I mean it was like he got to ride on a train excited. I didn't even notice them. haha!
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