Best Thanksgiving Ever!

Our Thanksgiving was awesome. This is because we had 8 of our favorite people staying with us over the holiday weekend, and it was a non-stop party. We laughed more in a few days than probably several years combined, which was very healing considering the emotional funeral visit we had just returned from. There is nothing like the sound of 6 cute, little kids' laughter filling your house to fill your soul. Two of these cuties were ours; the other 4 were our extremely adorable nieces and nephews Jeffery, Aspen, Gabriel and Miriena. We have been close to these kids ever since the first few years of marriage that Rich and I spent in their basement, so it was great to spend some quality time with them again. Along with them, we had their parents Joe (Rich's brother) and Julia, and Kari (Rich's sister) and Nate. The first evening, Rick (Rich's dad) and Pam joined us for some intense Sing Star kareoke gaming. We laughed ourselves silly singing a number of 80's songs. Thanksgiving dinner was cooked by the men and very impressive! That should definitely be a tradition. There we were joined by brother Rob and Uncle Dennis and his family. The rest of the weekend involved playing at Caper Acres park, Guitar Hero and more SingStar, movies, meals, workouts at the gym, and much more laughter.

Nate & Kari are exercise pro's and got me on a new exercise schedule and diet that I'm pretty excited about. I'm two weeks in, and so far, I'm loving it! If you're interested let me know.


My personal trainer & sis Kari

Nate Dog... breaking the diet...

Rocky had the time of his life playing with his cousins, who were so helpful and sweet with him. Every night they all crashed together on a blow-up mattress in Rocky's room. The kids were so quiet that we ended up sleeping in all weekend. When we woke up, Jeffery had gotten Rocky dressed and ready for the day. He followed his cousins everywhere. When we were at Round Table pizza the first night, he followed his cousins into the bathroom. Rich and I were unaware until we heard the laughter. We looked up to find Rocky waddling across the restaurant behind his cousins with his pants AND underpants down at his ankles. Too bad he was in one of of his SHORT shirts that day and gave everyone a show. Then Jack surprised us by leaping out of his car seat. Good thing Pam has quick reflexes and caught him in mid-air. We also celebrated Julia's birthday. The girls went shopping, while the boys watched the kids. Julia and I benefitted from Kari's shopping expertise and showed up that night for her birthday dinner in new outfits. The whole weekend was a blast!
I'm so glad I married into Rich's family. I love them all so much. I couldn't ask for better sisters. I just wish Kayla had been there too! And I wish I'd taken more pictures. Here are a few from our day at the park.