Thanksgiving 2012

This year is technically my family's turn for Christmas, but we decided last year that we wanted to start doing Christmas at home now that Madison is getting older so we went to my family's house for Thanksgiving instead! We had also decided that for cost reasons this would be our last trip out west while we're living in Memphis (at least on our own dime - we'll come visit anyone anytime who wants to pay for it :) ) so we were really excited to make the most of our last holiday with family for perhaps a long time.

The trip was fantastic!! It took the girls a day or two to adjust to the time difference and get used to sleeping somewhere new, but they were awesome! And they got completely spoiled!! My Mom got to meet McKinley in July but no one else had ever seen her, and with the exception of my Mom and my sister Casey, no one has seen Madison since she was 15 months old! They were shocked at how big both girls are!! Madison and McKinley were loved and doted upon so much that by the end of the week, Madison would run away every time she saw one of her aunts and uncles coming because she didn't want to be picked up anymore! I guess you really can have too much love :) In addition to my parents and the four of my brothers and sisters who are living at home right now, we also got to spend time with my Grandma and one of my sisters-in-law. My Boise brother had to work and couldn't come but it was great to see his wife, Peyton, who is expecting their first little one in June!!!! I missed their wedding this past June because it was too close to McKinley's birth and part of me will always regret that. But I'm so excited for them!!! For Thanksgiving dinner, we also had the sister missionaries and a super awesome woman in the ward who teaches at the high school (we call her Mama Fry). I got to go Black Friday shopping with my Mom and sister, which is tradition, we went to the city's Christmas parade and Jordan and I even got to go on a date to see the new James Bond movie!! Talk about a treat! My Mom also arranged for someone to take pictures of my little family for my Christmas present, which I can't wait to see! We definitely packed a lot into our trip! It was weird to leave not having any idea when I would see any of them again, but I'm grateful we live in this era, where we can blog, skype, etc. so my kids can still know their aunts, uncles and grandparents. And my sister has her mission papers in so cross your fingers for the Little Rock, Arkansas mission ;)

Playing with Uncle Adam

Dad's turn for feeding duty (I posted the pics of her very first food experience in the blog before this one, her 6-month post)

Madison and Aunt Grace playing with play-doh

Working on pies with Grandma and Grandpa

More pies with Aunt Casey and Aunt Grace. Madison loves to help in the kitchen!

Conked out with Great Grandma Shepherd

Wat you lookin' at?!

Madison slept on an air mattress with her princess sleeping bag in the girls' room. This is usually how she ended up, silly girl! She actually does this in her own bed too - she always turns sideways!

I found this idea for turkey handprint napkin holders on Pinterest so I had my mom buy all the supplies before we got there and then Madison and her aunts went to town making them for Thanksgiving dinner!

Our Thanksgiving table

Four hungry kids! These are my four siblings who are currently living at home, Adam, Casey, Grace and Sam. Casey has actually already done a year at BYU Idaho and is anxiously awaiting her mission call!!

All bundled up for the Christmas parade

Refusing to look at Mom

This is a portion of our Thanksgiving tablecloth here at home before we took it off to put up Christmas decorations. This was a fun tradition that we'll definitely do again! Madison always "wrote" her own and then told us what it was so we could write it legibly beside her writing. Then we talked together about what Mommy and Daddy were thankful for and what we thought McKinley was thankful for (the somewhat squiggly writing is for McKinley's)