Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013 did not disappoint. As per our usual, we celebrated twice!

 

In previous years I've made 'Monkey Bread' for Thanksgiving morning. One year it ended up baked/caked on my oven floor and Dave Wade had to scrape it off because I was 36 weeks pregnant and couldn't bend down. Last year I put it in the oven, went for a run, and our oven stopped working while it was in there. It was 'deflated' to say the least. Also.. I'm really working on healthier recipes, and if you couldn't gather by the name, monkey bread isn't healthy. So we opted for from-scratch pumpkin pancakes. They did not disappoint!

Owen requested an airplane. Can you see it? He was so tickled with his 'airplane' that he refused to eat it so as not to ruin the shape.

We served it them with blueberries.. can you tell who likes them!?

At noonish, we loaded up and went to Thanksgiving celebration #1 hosted by Mima and Papa Cooper. I helped cook, Mike helped get Amelia to nap (this took 4 hours), and Uncle Steven and Owen played with the color changing cars. Uncle Ryan and Owen played lots of wrestling, too, but I only have 'in action' shots of them that didn't turn out well!

 

Mom, are you telling stories on me? I'm so sweetsie!

 

Four fifths of the Wehmeier clan made it to Thanksgiving dinner. They were missing Katie who works at a hospital in Louisiana, and we all know that hospitals never close. Owen enjoyed watching Monsters University with Kelley & Kayla....

While Millie teethed on a roll.

 

My cousin Kelley is great with kids, and she just happens to adore mine. Thanks Kell! Owen calls her 'Kelley-play-cars' because that's what she does! This is a downloaded text that she sent me. An Owen/Kelley selfie!

 

Thanksgiving #2 started early in the day on Black Friday. This day was hosted by Mima and Papa Wade. Amelia behaved a bit better this day, and Owen, of course, had so much fun with his cousins!

I wish you could see her face, but I love this pic of Aunt Lindsey reading to itsy bitsy!

Carson worked hard on his Christmas list that morning. He poured through adds and came up with quite the list. Here he presents his ideas to Papa Wade.

These antlers from the $1 bin at Target were a huge hit!

These girls (and now Tippy, the dog) fight over Mima Wade's lap.

 I'll love to watch their relationship develop over the years!

 

Millie loves any dog bed.

Carson grabbed my camera and took a picture of all of us at the table.

And then he took a picture of the pumpkin bread.

And then a picture of his own picture. I found these pics as I was downloading, and I cracked up.

More bitsy and itsy bitsy playing/fighting.

 

Both days were delightful, and the food was delicious as well. This year I am most thankful for healthy children and the relationships they have with their grandparents. We hoped and dreamed they would be close with their grandparents when we moved back home, and it's truly awesome that they each have individual relationships with each grandparent. We are so blessed to have parents that want to be present in our kids lives.