.:Thanksgiving:.

Wow, what a fun week and a half we just got back from! I really don't like living so far away from my family, so it's nice to be able to get some good time in together when we can. This post is going to be LONG and full of pictures!

Reece and I headed up to Boise a week before Thanksgiving to spend some time with my sister Dani, and her family. They recently moved up there for my brother in law to start up his chiropractic business. It's much closer than we used to be, so hopefully we'll see each other a bit more! We just ran errands, hung out, and let the kids play. We always discover that we have bought our girls the same clothes, so we had to try to get a picture of Reece and Andi in their almost matching shirts!

On Saturday, we loaded the kids up in the mini van and headed to Oregon! The kids were all angels the entire time in the car, we were so proud of them! When we got there, my sister in law Sharon was there with her kids, and my other sister Nikki in law was flying in that nite. We started off our vacation going to watch my sister Alli sing the national anthem at the basketball game and dance during the halftime show. Then it was home where we started our whirlwind days of crafting things like this:

My mom bought all of the kids matching Christmas outfits. We had them all wear them to church that weekend. That's a pretty great looking bunch of kids!

That evening, after naps and dinner, Grandma Z had a special treat for the kids. She had baked up some sugar cookies and let the kids frost theirs and decorate them. Obviously Reece can't do this well, so I got one ready for her and let her go to town. She started off with the frosting, but soon discovered that the cookie part was good too!

We spent one day taking the kids to run errands, and then to the park. There were geece there that were twice the size of Reece! It was nice to be able to get them outside for a little bit!

Monday nite we surprised Nikki with a baby shower! She and I are due technically almost two weeks apart, but the way we've been measuring, probably less than a week! She and Sam are having a little boy in March, and we wanted to do something special for her/them. We said we wanted a girl's nite out, and surprised her when we got to the restaurant. It was fun to see all of the new things baby boy Stewart got! These pictures are of the amazing quilt my mom made for her, and her opening up the tie onesies I made for her. And also of all the gals out to dinner!

When we got home, turns out the joke was on me! There was another surprise baby shower waiting to happen! My dad and brother in law had set out the stuff for them to all surprise me once we got home. I soooo wasn't expecting it, so it was such a fun surprise! Baby sister got some great new stuff, including yet another amazing quilt (I'll have to post pictures of it and everything else some other time - didn't get one at the shower!) I know we're having another girl, but it is fun to get some new girl stuff just for her! Big thanks to my awesome family!

The boys got in the next day, and pretty much spent most of their time playing the Wii or playing with this new toy my parents got:

Another picture of cute Reece and Andi in their matching shirts (I can't wait to dress up my two girls together!)

Then it was Thanksgiving! We spent the day cooking, eating, and decorating the Christmas tree! My mom got all of the kids matching turkey headbands to wear. Reece was a cranky girl, and wouldn't wear hers, so that's why she's holding hers in the pictures! She sure did enjoy eating her Thanksgiving meal, though! You'd never know from how skinny this girl is that she loves to eat!

Grandma Z and Grandpa Paul were nice enough to let each of the grandkids open up a present. It was a fun Christmas book. All the adult couples got a nice Christmas book, too. Reece liked tearing the paper - she's already done it to three of the presents under our Christmas tree back at home!

We did our typical day after Thanksgiving tradition and went to the mountains to cut down a Christmas tree! Reece was not a fan of the cold or snow, but she was a trooper! Plus she looked super cute in her snowsuit! My parent's ATV burned up a couple of weeks ago, but my dad was able to get a new one just in time for the tree hunt! We all had fun taking turns on that, drinking hot chocolate, and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. It never gets old!

After we all got home, and showered the campfire smell off of us it was time for our annual gift exchange. We draw names among the adults, and we also draw names along the cousins. The kids were beside themselves with excitement! They started out with new jammies from Grandma Z and Grandpa Paul. Adorable, as usual!

Then on to the presents! Reece got a stroller for her baby, which she is loving pushing around the house. Baby girl got a cute dress, and I can't wait to put her little body in it! Us adults waited until the kids had gone to bed to do our exchange; we were able to enjoy a little more fully that way! Everyone was generous and thoughtful!

The next morning we had family pictures. We haven't seen the the pictures yet of the entire fam, but Sam and Nikki took individual family pictures. I think ours turned out really great! (Can't post it on here since my hubby doesn't want to be on the blog, but look for it in a Christmas card coming soon to you!) We also got a cute shot of all the girls and all the guys. Reece was being a stinker that morning, so hopefully the group shot turned out okay!

After that we gave my parents one of their gifts: SNUGGIES! We've been making fun of these as a family ever since we saw the first commercials, and thought it was finally time that someone give them a try. It was pretty funny! Raise the roof!

That nite we started a new tradition: Bingo! My dad found a Bingo set at the store, and thought it would be fun to start playing that when we're all together. We did have a really fun time playing for yummy goodies as prizes! It was a great way to end our time there.

We had such a wonderful time crafting, playing pool, eating, playing Donky Konga (super fun!), and just being together. Reece loved being with her grandparents and her cousins. She especially loved baby Taytum (minus all of the eye poking!), so I'm hoping that love of babies will hold for the next four months! Thanks to everyone for such a wonderful week and a half! It went by way too fast!