Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

(This post has the potential to be the longest one in history--I received so many great pics from Auntie Kelli and Grandma Matthys that I can't bear not to share them all!)

Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful time spent with family, celebrating all that we have to be thankful for.  

It started bright and early with the arrival of our first guest, Auntie Kelli!  She flew in on Thursday morning, and Brody couldn't have been more excited to see her again.  We spent a nice relaxing day at home before heading over to the GrandSmiths for a fabulous Thanksgiving feast and some Longhorn football.  Go Horns!

Friday brought the remaining guests our way.  Grandaddy, Grandma, Aunt Ally and Aunt Bethany all arrived that morning.  

Leyton and his Oma

After lunch, Oma finally arrived and the party really got started!  Brody was thrilled to see so many of his relatives that we talk about all the time but don't get to see that often.  He got more attention than I can possibly give by myself, and he loved every minute of it! :)  That afternoon, while I was busy in the kitchen preparing our yummy dinner, the "kids" decided to make a gingerbread house and gingerbread train. Apparently, it was a lot harder than it looks, but I thought it turned out really cute.

On Saturday evening, the whole family headed downtown for the Holidazzle parade.  I look forward to going every year and seeing all the lighted floats again.  I LOVE the wicked witch on her bike and the spinning snowman.  Spin, baby, spin!  This year was the first time that Brody was REALLY into it.  His eyes were so wide the entire time, and he would eagerly point out each float as he saw it headed our way.  I loved watching the sheer joy on his face, and it really started to put me in the Christmas spirit!   We enjoyed a great dinner at Buca afterwards, and despite the crowded table, we had a wonderful time with yummy food and lots of wine!

Loving the parade...and Grandaddy, too!

The whole family at the Holidazzle parade

Our littlest reindeer!

Sunday brought snow!  After church, the kids decided to play while I got brunch ready.  (I feel like I was stuck in the kitchen the whole time,  but don't think I didn't enjoy every minute of it. I love cooking and entertaining, so this was great fun for me!)  They played on the sled and threw snowballs at one another.  Fun!

Whee!

Allyson pushes Brody on the sled

Wipe Out!

The Matthys family headed back to Texas later that afternoon, and the rest of us headed out to buy our Christmas tree.  Then we spent a little time bringing out all the boxes of Christmas stuff and stringing lights on the tree.  Brody wanted to help, but that pretty much means making a mess!

Aunt Kelli and Oma left on Monday morning, and it took us probably three days to recover. Brody turned into holy terror man when all the attention went away and I had to spend a few days getting him back on track.  Plus, I was just plain exhausted from all the scurrying around over the past few days.  So, we vegged out last week and finally felt back to normal by Thursday.  It was so much fun to have everyone here and I hope you all had a great time!! Come back to see us soon.  :)

 Brody loves his Oma and Auntie Kelli!