Thanksgiving '09

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! It was a terrific start to this year's holiday season. This year was our year to be with my family. My mom's side of the family gets together every year for Thanksgiving. She is the youngest of three sister and they take turns hosting. My mom hosted this year so we didn't have to travel far. All but my cousin Kevin's family made it. It's really the only time of the year we get to see each other, so it's a precious time together. The food was great, of course, but the fellowship was even better. My cousin Tracy has three girls, the youngest being 8 and the oldest 15. The girls were fantastic with my kids. Titus was caught hugging on Megan in response to her kindness. My mom had pumpkins for the kids to decorate along with cranberries and raisins to make necklaces, bracelets, halos, heart shaped decorations, and just anything else the kids could come up with.

On Friday we all went out at various time to get some shopping done. In addition, my sister and I pull the turkey wishbone every year. Whomever gets the bigger piece wins the wishbone ornament for the year. I actually won this year.

On Saturday I took the kids to the Blue Santa parade in downtown Austin. The kids love parades, but the main reason I took them was to help them learn new ways to give back during this season of gift giving. On Friday we found lots of toys on sale and stocked up for the parade. They had a GREAT time running out with their presents and giving to Blue Santa. It was awesome to keep pointing out the during the rest of the parade all of the trucks full and overflowing with toys. Oh, and right before the parade we did get to run over to Aaron's parents house to see Ma and Pa (Albert's parents) for a quick visit before they had to travel back home.

Then, Sunday night after Aaron got home from installing Christmas lights for people we had time to put up our Christmas tree as a family. It truly was a family FIRST. Skylyn was just a couple of weeks old last year, but this year she was very involved in the action. Aaris acted like an old pro. She wanted to organize the whole event, and was great about jumping in and helping out with everything. It truly was the most enjoyable time. Looking forward to a memorable and merry Christmas this year.