On Thursday, we woke up and watched the Ma*cy's Da*y Par*ade! The girls loved it...
especially the Dora float!
Kate was a completely diferent little girl this Thanksgiving from last year, when she had been home not even a month! Just look at that sweet smile:)
Grandma and Mom cooked delicious dishes for dinner, and AnnaClaire even helped Grandma make the stuffing! It was the best ever!
We then headed to the park to take some Christmas card pictures... we got lots of good ones:) but you'll have to wait to see the actual one we chose!
Kate was just jumping up and down the whole time... I think Thanks*giving might be her new favorite holiday!
We got some really good pictures! Tthe boys and I thought the matching Bay*lor shirts was a bit much... but it turned out cute. We even got Charlie in!
We then played at the park a bit... the girls had a blast swinging,
sliding,
and they even made a train down the slide before we headed back to the house for lots of foot*ball, snacks, and naps!
The girlies then put on their Thanksgiving dress for more pictures...
Kate was extra cheesy!
AnnaClaire was, too, although at this point she was telling me, "I REALLY don't like takin' pictures!"
I don't blame her... but they are so cute, aren't they?!
Here's me and my two precious girls... our second Thanksgiving with Kate and our third with AC!
Miss priss... isn't her dress adorable?! We found it on sale! And Kate's was AC's from her first Thanksgiving!
The dining room table looked beautiful... although we didn't even have enough chairs and had to bring in two from the kitchen! Don't know what we're going to do next year when we have Charlie, too!
AnnaClaire and her Thanksgiving meal...
and Kate with hers... the corn pudding was her favorite! After dinner, Mom and Grandma cleaned while we watched... you guessed it... more football! We even had some delicious pumpkin desert as we watched the Te*xas vs. Te*xas A&M game! Always a big rivalry... and it got close... but ultimately, Te*xas prevailed! :) :) I woke up at 3:45am to go Bl*ack Fri*day shopping with my best friend. We both scored a G*PS for $59! Not bad, considering the original price is over $100 more than that! Wal*Mart was RIDICULOUS though... People.are.crazy.
On Saturday morning, Drew brought home a dozen donuts from Dun*kin for us before we caravaned (you know your family is getting big when you have to take TWO cars!) out to the mountains to get a Christmas tree!
We had a nice wagon ride up the hill...
Still just can't get over how this is the same little girl from last year... Then, she wouldn't go to Will-- much less SMILE in his arms-- and she hardly smiled at all as she rode in the Er*go on our last trip to the tree farm!
There's the fam! It was nice having Drew home this year (he was in Chin*a last Thanks*giving) although we were missing our littlest boy!
AnnaClaire and Kate had a BALL! Ohhh and the scarves they are wearing? I knit them a few years ago.
After looking around for awhile, we found our tree... it's perfect!
And we cut it down...
And walked back up to catch the wagon ride down to the barn!
In the barn, the girlies got to ride a horse! They thought that was just the greatest thing ever.
They even got to ride in a sleigh like Santa, as Booie told me!
Here's the whole crew, taken by a family we met with a cute little girl also adopted from China!
Santa even made an appearance! Yep... no mall lines for us this year! AnnaClaire told him that she wants a jump rope and a doll! Kate was content just looking at him from afar.
We then drove a short drive to Boo*ne to eat at the famouns Da*n'l Bo*one Inn... one of our traditions every time we are in the mountains!
Then today, we celebrated Drew's birthday, as he turns 22 on Wednesday! He took us to his favorite restaurant- a Viet*namese restaurant which is out near his apartment at college. Grandma treated us and it was delicious!
After watching a disappointing Pan*thers game and setting the Christmas tree up, we had chocolate cake!
It was definitely a fun weekend. Lots of time just as a family... and so very fun! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!
On Saturday morning, Drew brought home a dozen donuts from Dun*kin for us before we caravaned (you know your family is getting big when you have to take TWO cars!) out to the mountains to get a Christmas tree!
We had a nice wagon ride up the hill...
Still just can't get over how this is the same little girl from last year... Then, she wouldn't go to Will-- much less SMILE in his arms-- and she hardly smiled at all as she rode in the Er*go on our last trip to the tree farm!
There's the fam! It was nice having Drew home this year (he was in Chin*a last Thanks*giving) although we were missing our littlest boy!
AnnaClaire and Kate had a BALL! Ohhh and the scarves they are wearing? I knit them a few years ago.
After looking around for awhile, we found our tree... it's perfect!
And we cut it down...
And walked back up to catch the wagon ride down to the barn!
In the barn, the girlies got to ride a horse! They thought that was just the greatest thing ever.
They even got to ride in a sleigh like Santa, as Booie told me!
Here's the whole crew, taken by a family we met with a cute little girl also adopted from China!
Santa even made an appearance! Yep... no mall lines for us this year! AnnaClaire told him that she wants a jump rope and a doll! Kate was content just looking at him from afar.
We then drove a short drive to Boo*ne to eat at the famouns Da*n'l Bo*one Inn... one of our traditions every time we are in the mountains! Then today, we celebrated Drew's birthday, as he turns 22 on Wednesday! He took us to his favorite restaurant- a Viet*namese restaurant which is out near his apartment at college. Grandma treated us and it was delicious!
After watching a disappointing Pan*thers game and setting the Christmas tree up, we had chocolate cake!
It was definitely a fun weekend. Lots of time just as a family... and so very fun! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!
9 comments:
I'm worn out from reading all that! Ya'll sure were busy! It's fun though, right?! What wonderful memories were made.
Ate Vietnamese food that looked just like that on our trip to get Maia! Loved all the pictures.
Such beautiful pictures and wonderful memories. Love the dresses!
Keri
Emily,
What does your family do to preserve the tree since you cut it down early? We are getting our tree next weekend, and it always seems to dry out before Christmas.
I am glad to see that AnnaClaire and Kate are doing so well. I can't believe that it has been three years since we met our last day in China.
Thanks Emily,
Tammy and Holly Wen
What a fantastic holiday you all had! I loved reading about it.
Hi Tammy!
We make a fresh cut in the base of the tree and just keep watering it daily. We've noticed that the trees we cut drink much more than the trees that come from lots. We cut our tree early because we wanted to do it as a WHOLE family, and Will headed back to college on Sunday evening.
Pam
I too am amazed at the difference in Kate. We noticed a huge change in Caleb as well ~ this year he even ate turkey instead of waiting for a pot of Oodles of Noodles...
Thanks Pam! We are getting our tree early too this year, and I was talking to some colleagues at work and they were saying that they heard if you but some bleach in the water that it helps the tree to soak up the water. I was just wondering if there was some sort of "solution" besides water that helps a tree to soak up more water.
You have such a beautiful family! Wishing you a very blessed Christmas.
Tammy
What a wonderful holiday you all had! Next year Charlie will be in the mix of things!
Hugs,
Janet, Kevin, Ted, Philip, and waiting for Eli
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