Thanksgiving week

 Alright, time to get caught up on the blog.  :)

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the kids and I headed up to Nebraska. My aunt (my dad's sister) has been very sick, and we wanted to head up to see her, my dad and my cousins. It was a tiring trip (emotionally and physically), but it was so good to be there and help and to spend some time with my dad. My dad and I spent quite a bit of time together in the car driving to and from my aunt's house and dropping/picking up the kids, which was great. We haven't spent that much time alone together for a long time, and it was so good to be together. Thankfully, Amy and Sarah were both more than willing to watch my kiddos multiple times for me so I could be with my aunt and cousins. 

The kids loved seeing Papa!

 Norah was a little handful while we were in Nebraska (I think she missed her daddy...), but Norah loves her Papa and loved being around him!

We actually stayed at my uncle's house (my dad's brother). They have two little dachshund's, and my kids love those dogs. Both dogs were more than happy to let my kids pet them and rub their bellies. I often found Norah laying on the dog pillow with one of the dogs petting them. :)

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Wednesday afternoon the kids and I headed to Kansas to meet Joe at his parent's house for Thanksgiving. I took a nap when I got there, and then Joe let me sleep in every morning we were there, so I got caught up on my sleep! Wonderful!

Kylah helped Nana make some homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving Day.

She's such a beautiful little chef.

Joe played some games with Norah while dinner was cooking. Did I mention Joe is training to run a marathon in March?! Amazing!

When it's chilly outside, my kids can often be found playing inside with Nana's doll houses. They love all the accessories she has, and they will spend hours here. (Joey mainly loves organizing the house, while Kylah loves to actually pretend with the dolls).

We were missing three out of the six brothers, so it was actually a quieter (relatively!) holiday than we have had in the past. The little girls had their own little table.

Dinner was fabulous and consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (real and stovetop), cheesy cauliflower, cranberries, sweet potato casserole (Val's recipe), corn casserole, and homemade rolls. Yum!

Joey got to sit with us at the adult table!

It was great to see Great Grandma, who joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. Sarah especially loved that GG gave her rides on her walker! :)

Joey loving on Great Grandma.

The kids were pretty excited when it was time for dessert. Joey has decided he now loves pumpkin pie. Kylah is like me and would much rather eat something chocolate!

Norah is so loving (when she's not throwing a fit...), and I love this picture!

Norah and Naomi were having fun running away from Uncle Jason (well, except when Uncle Jason pretended to eat Norah and she started bawling...). Norah was happy to be "caught" by him, though.

They would run to Nana (and jump on her!) and she would keep them safe.

On Friday Nana made Christmas cookies with the kids.

Norah and Naomi got to have their own little mini baking session in the morning. There may or may not have been some saliva in those cookies from all the licking...

The older kids got a turn later that afternoon. They definitely enjoyed licking bowls and eating the finished product! (By the way, if you are wondering, yes, my girls are wearing the same outfits they were wearing the day before. They found these dresses that used to be Mackenzie and Bella's and they wouldn't take them off!)

Grandpa played quite a few games of checkers with Joey.

It was time to decorate Nana's tree on Saturday. She had a lot of little helpers!

Here they are patiently waiting their turn to hang an ornament. :)

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After being gone from home for over a week, I was very glad to get home and sleep in my own bed. We actually picked out our tree and decorated it on Sunday evening (we always get a real tree). The kids had a great time seeing all of their old ornaments and things they have made. I love it that we get more and more ornaments each year! We gave the kids creative freedom to put their ornaments wherever they wanted, and it turned out pretty well! (I think Joe may have lifted Norah up to let her decorate the top half of the tree.) :)

I failed to get pictures while we were actually decorating our tree, but here is the finished product!

The countdown has begun to Christmas, and the kids are so excited!