Post Thanksgiving

  I was able to get a lot of shopping done while Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were going on.  Shopping on my phone is SO much easier, however, I don't know if it always saves me money.  Often I am willing to spend a little more just so that I don't have to take 45 minutes to load up the girls and go myself. 
  We did manage to get family pictures taken and for crazy cheap too!  $75!  The gal was super sweet and got our pictures edited and back to us in five days.  You can't get anything good for that cheap down in Florida.  After pictures were taken, we took the scenic way home and drove past the temple here in Albuquerque. 

 Becca looked so adorable in her outfit!  Not hardly any smiles from her during the family photo shoot but she wasn't crying.  Hallelujah.   

 She is starting solids now and isn't much of a fan of the rice cereal.  She does like applesauce.  Carrots are a little strong tasting for her.  She often gags.  

 One of the days we chose to stay inside and out of the cold I pulled out our ball pit balls.  The girls had a lot of fun throwing them around at each other.  

 Ellie adores Gerald and picks him up all the time.  I think he still likes her, for now, but she is about as gentle as a 2-year-old can get.  Which is not gentle at all.

 And here is my sweet Becca Boo.  She loves the sound of running water so 9 times out of 10 she will lay happily on the floor while I take a shower and get ready for the day.  Once the water is off, though, her water works start running.

Thanksgiving

  We went to Clovis for Thanksgiving this year. A little more than a 3 hour drive to see family and have extra space to run around made the drive more than worth it. Becca slept the first half of the drive and cried for half of the rest. Nothing new there. Ellie had fun looking out for cows and horses. Before we were totally tired of the drive we arrived!  We were able to drive without stopping and so the girls were ready to get out and stretch their legs.  And play on the stairs.  

  Dinnertime was an hour away so we unloaded and tried to help as best we could to get dinner on the table. The Forsyths joined us for dinner. We knew them when we were at Laughlin. Gosh, so much has happened since then. They moved a year and a half after we arrived, so we only had Kate when they moved. They now have 1 more kid and 2 foster kids. So we had 9 kids all together. The house was full of commotion and my girls were in heaven. Kate and Abby love running around after big kids. And no one got badly hurt. Success.
  Thursday morning Andrew and Jared took the girls to a park to get their wiggles out while Kristin and I worked on Thanksgiving dinner. They came back for lunch, naps, and crafts for the girls.  

  Dinner was wonderful. Everything turned out very yummy. I didn't think I'd eaten that much, just a little bit of everything, but come time for dessert I didn't feel like eating anything. That doesn't mean I didn't. Like, it's Thanksgiving. You have to have pie. So I served myself a sliver of pecan and lemon pie. I enjoyed the first two bites and pushed through the rest.  A successful Thanksgiving, even if I do say so myself. 

Even the dogs got a little taste of turkey with some help from Ellie.

Jared did some magic tricks for the girls, which they always love.  Ellie will try and copy Jared sometimes which gives us all a laugh.

  Friday morning we all went to the track to run and kick a ball around.  It was SO windy though.  If you didn't put a foot on the ball to keep it still the wind would blow it away.  Far away.  

There was some football equipment at the track. Ellie was the first to hop on and Aunt Kristin pushed her around, much to Ellie's delight.

Abby loved chasing the ball around, however, once she fell into the grass and got covered in pokeys she was banned from walking in the grass. Those things covered Texas and man, they were awful.  Don't miss them one bit.

 Once Kate and Abby saw how much fun Ellie was having, they wanted in on it too.  Andrew and Jared had one girl each and pushed them as fast as they could.  Andrew beat Jared by 10 feet but both girls had a lot of fun. 

And then Andrew and Jared collapsed.

Kate and Abby decided they wanted a turn at pushing too.

 After pushing Ellie around, all three girls decided to race.  Ellie got a head start, then Abby, and then Kate.

After nap and lunch we went to the bowling alley and played one game, which was about as long as Ellie could last.

Gerald did well and only had one accident in the house while there.  Ellie loves playing with him and putting him in a choke hold to hug him.  

 Abby asked me to hold her "letters to Santa".  Bahaha!  So sweet and cute!

 Kate and Abby got to break the wishbone.

 Abby got the bigger piece.

 Ellie loves helping with Becca.  I was changing Becca's diaper when Ellie came onto the bead.  As soon as she saw Becca's bare belly she started blowing raspberries. 

 Ellie watching Daddy load up the car for our ride back "home".

  We are so grateful we got to spend Thanksgiving with family.  We had a great time and survived the drive back to Albuquerque just fine.