Thanksgiving 2012

We went back to my parents house for Thanksgiving. (We like to spend lots of money on gas. :) We have gone over 3 times in November! Good thing it's semi-close.) We drove over on Thanksgiving morning and traffic was amazing. We deal with lots of traffic over the mountain pass, but this time it was a dream drive. Kyle was in heaven. I didn't get any pictures of the beautiful table or amazing spread of food my Mom prepared. It was yummy and we had fun visiting. 

Preston trying to help Kevin with this hard puzzle. Preston is really good with puzzles but this one may have been a little advanced.

We did the cousin Christmas gift exchange on Thanksgiving because everyone was here and it's more fun to give a gift in person. The kids had lots of fun opening presents.

Preston LOVED his gift from one of Jeni's kids. It was a big Emily train. When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas he would say "big Emily" and that's it. Well, I guess I am done with him for Christmas now. When I gave Jeni the idea, I told her she'd probably have to order it online and she ended up finding it at Target! 

After dinner, presents and dessert, all us girls headed off to Tri-Cities to do some retail therapy on Thursday night (early Black Friday) since that's when most stores start their sales now. Sadie had a lot of things on her list so we all divided and conquered at Walmart and she got everything she wanted. My Mom was in line for a kitchen and there were only 8 kitchens and she was the 8th person in line so she got one! She said she felt like she won the lottery. haha! I was in charge of Barbies and I was supposed to get like 3 of each kind (that's a lot!) and when it was time to "go" there was some pushing happening all around me and it was insane! Barbies fell over...it was a mess! I was stacking Barbies up in my arms and they were falling out and it was stressful. haha! Jeni and Sadie were nearby getting other toys so they came over to help me. It was funny. Then getting out of the chaos to where Marci and Sara were, which was in a check-out line b/c they had amazing positioning at their toy pick-up spot, took forever b/c the aisles were blocked with swarms of people. I had to push my way through and finally made it to them. We were checked out by 8:15pm and the sale started at 8pm. We were successful! I've never been to Black Friday shopping and it was crazy! Then we headed to Toys R Us and my Mom, Sadie and I got dropped off. Marci, Jeni and Sara (with Zane) headed to Target. After Toys R Us, which it was calm inside there, we decided to just walk up to Target b/c Marci and Sara were standing in line for a camera so it was easier to walk. It wasn't far away, but with all our purchases we looked like Santa Clause hauling our bags over our shoulders. We had lots of laughs and good memories were made. We met up with them inside Target (they had lame sales and looonnggg lines). The camera Marci and Sara wanted sold out 2 people ahead of them so after all that wait they didn't get one. Boo. We got some popcorn and icees then headed home. We got back to my parents around 11:30pm. Not too bad!

On Friday morning, my Dad and Marci took all the kids except for Chelsea, Baylor and Zane, on a hike up in the hills/mountains. They found some caves and went down a steep hill all crammed illegally in the truck! They came back talking non-stop about their hike. They loved it. I didn't think Preston or Lindsey would make it, but they even had fun and did good. Guarantee now the kids will want to go on 'hikes' more often. We had some family drama unfold so that kind of put a damper on things. But what family doesn't have drama, right? That's when we learn to forgive and move on. We played a few games, but took it easy the rest of the day. 

We packed up and left my parents Saturday morning and headed back into Tri-Cities to see Kyle's family. We picked up Dee Ann and went and saw Grandma Great (Arlene). Here's a cute picture of Chelsea with her. Lindsey was wanting to play with all her breakable trinkets and tea sets. ahhh! 

I thought this was cute of all the kids with Grandma Dee Ann.

We went back to Dee Ann's house, ate lunch then put Chelsea down for a nap. Then we set up her Christmas tree and decorated with her. The kids had fun helping. It's not a clear picture of Dee Ann, but I liked Kate in the back putting the ornament on the tree. We stopped by to see Melanie and the kids before heading home. And of course, we had to stop by Miner's in Yakima for dinner on our way home too. Yum! Now onto Christmas...can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone!