Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Thanksgiving Week

My parents arrived the day after we got home from vacation and stayed for the week of Thanksgiving. My sister (Auntie Stina!) and my niece (Cousin Sadie!) were also with us from Wednesday-Saturday. The boys were wound up -- very, very wound -- with all the excitement; quite a few time-outs were given and received. And Meera was still in her post-vacation-recovery period (!!!); quite a few nights of every-two-hour-feedings. But nonetheless, a good time was had by all. (Thank goodness gracious our kids all go to bed by 7:00 so the adults can all unwind for a good long stretch each eve because without that I don't know what we'd do). Thanksgiving Day and Dinner was, of course, a highlight (my mom knows how to do a Thanksgiving Dinner). And I still don't know which I like more -- the actual dinner, or the turkey sandwiches later that night. Other highlights were New Hope brunch and ducks; a special gift for K & O from MorMor -- lego sea planes; Kyle's trip to the Phildadelphia airport with MorFar; season premiere/tv-movie of 24; good wine and good coffee from Braydon; Sadie, K, and O playing peacefully together for some good long stretches of time; puppy Neptune!!!!!!; the kids really able (and into) cracking shelled nuts this year; Ringing Rocks; Chipotle; Peace Valley; Tabora Farm; crab legs; K, O, and Sadie jumping on the trampoline; Meera's first Thanksgiving. Snapshots from Thanksgiving Week are below!













On a different note, we spent a lot of time during Thanksgiving Week thinking about my cousins who both left this world this past summer/fall within six weeks of each other. Watching our kids (K, O, M, Sadie) all be together as only cousins can be was bitter sweet for me. I remember so many holidays with Karen and Eric; to know they are not with us is a strange surreal reality. Thanksgiving also kicks off a season of thinking about past, present, and future in such profound ways... and this year will be particularly profound for our family because of all that we have gained and all that we have lost this past year. Braydon and I continue to be focused, very heavily focused, on our gratitude for each and every moment of all of our days. So, we exit the Thanksgiving season and enter the Christmas season truly giving thanks and looking forward to all that is to come.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see in one of the pictures that you got Kyle and Owen new seats, they look really comfy. Where did you get them?

Heather said...

Cindy--
The new booster seats are AWESOME! I *highly* recommend them. We're on our 3rd set of booster seats and these are BY FAR the very best. They are "Cooshee" Booster Seats. We got them in black, but they have several colors. We bought ours online from One Step Ahead. Here's the link:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=6764&cmSource=Search

:)
HBJ

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot! My little man is still in a booster seat as well. I think he would love this. =)