{Thanksgiving & Daddy's Birthday}

The past few days have been very busy but very fun!  We celebrated Thanksgiving and also Chat's 33rd birthday this week with lots (and lots and lots) of family! 

 

Our celebrations started Tuesday.  We headed to Abbott, Texas for the day to see Chat's grandmother.  For the past several years, we always visit her the week of Thanksgiving and spent the night.  This year was a bit hard for us.  Since Chat is in school and has very minimal time off and also we have Ben who seems to always need to go to the ER due to injury or trouble breathing, we just didn't feel that it was good to make an overnight trip this year.  It is a town of 350 people and any major hospitals would be a couple hours away and it just didn't feel right.  So we got up early at 6:00 am on Tuesday and headed out.  When you get up that early, it is pretty much a necessity to stop for donuts.  Luckily about half way through our trip there was Top Donuts in Hearne, Texas.  It hit the spot and it helped the boys stretch their legs and get some wiggles out. 

 

We made it to Abbott around 10:30 am and got to visit with Chat's grandmother.  She is 92 so it is very special to spend time with her.  We had chicken and dumplings for lunch and the boys ran around her house.  Luke would pick of framed pictures of Chat when he was younger and yell, "Look, it is a picture of me!".  They look so much alike -- it is scary!  Luke also found her old exercise pedals and literally played on it for hours.  It kept him busy and in one place, so I was happy.   Ha!

 

Ben just wanted to be outside mooing at the cows.  The freezing temperatures and crazy wind didn't seem to bother him.  Just his mother who was freezing her tail off!!  Since Chat's grandmother's house is literally in fields, it has no protection from the wind -- no trees, buildings, nothing.  So what was probably 35 degrees felt more like 20 degrees and the wind would literally take your breath away it was so cold.  I must love this boy very much because I brought him out several times to moo at those darn cows (and to keep him from destroying the house!)!

We headed home about 3:00 pm and got home just in time for a late dinner and to see that our Christmas pajamas had arrived.  The boys loved that Santa was on them and so we broke our rule (can't celebrate Christmas till after Daddy's birthday) and wore them that night!  I got the best picture of the boys together.  Their expressions were priceless.  This might be one of my most favorite pictures of them together...

But let's be honest, this picture below probably represents a more accurate portrayal of the boys and our household these days.  Ha!

We woke up early Wednesday and headed to Avalon Diner for our annual birthday breakfast for Daddy.  Daddy got a tall stack of pancakes with candles in it and my three boys ate every bite of them.  And of course, they needed some piggy back rides when we got home!

 

What one dose, the other one has to do as well.  Having these two boys has brought the saying "Monkey see, monkey do" to a whole new level for me!

 

 

After showers, we headed to Chat's dad's house to celebrate his birthday and Thanksgiving with them.  We had lunch and then the boys got to paint pumpkin and turkey cookies.  They had a ball!

 

And of course, there were more candles to blow out for Daddy's birthday.  First Luke....

 

And then we had to relight the candles for Ben....

 

We headed home so Ben could nap (okay, I did too!) and then we headed back out that evening to go to Chat's stepdad's house for his birthday celebration and Thankstrimming (we celebrate Thanksgiving and trim the tree -- among lots of other things).  It was a full house and the boys loved every minute.  Luke always finds this horn and plays it there.  It is hysterical!

At some point in the evening, all the kids head outside and they put on their Christmas lights and the kids run around.  They have these three trees that light up in sequence with Christmas music and the kids LOVE them.  The kids dance and run and sing!  And Ben was in awe of all the lights.  It was so fun to watch him soak it all in.

 

After a long night, they boys headed to bed and so did we.  We spent actual Thanksgiving at my parent's house yesterday.  We didn't actually eat any turkey since my sister was in Dallas with my brother-in-law's family, so that will happen on Saturday.  I can't wait!  But we had a nice day with my parents.  The boys played and we went to the park.  We got home after dinner and we were all pooped.  So it was time for a family selfie...

 

 

The boys got to bed last night at a decent time for the first time all week and this was Luke this morning at 7:45 am.  This pretty much how we all felt this morning!  It is a sure sign of a great, but busy week. 

 

 

One more celebration tomorrow and then it is on to Christmas!!