Thanksgiving Recap

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving week has already passed by, but it has! We traveled to Illinois Tuesday night and came home Sunday - went by much too fast. It was a quieter Thanksgiving than normal; only my family and my brother Matt were able to be at my parent's house, but it was lots of good food, going to bed early/sleeping late kind of time. And cold Illinois weather, of course! Here are a few pictures (and I'm sure you'll notice right away that great photography was not the goal of the week. It was kind of nice to rely on phone pics and not bug the kids for photos.).

Because we're totally mean (and we were taking advantage of the unseasonably warm day we had on Wednesday), we sent the kids out to start a fire. By rubbing sticks together. It was about as successful as you might imagine, which was why we felt comfortable telling a 6 and 9 year old to go out and start a fire. ;)

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It was fun, though!
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Decided to go against the normal and get a little crafty with place cards.
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Watching the Macy's parade with Uncle Matt. Thank you, Camden, for pretending that it was the worst thing ever.
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My poor dad and brother put up with that entire parade so the kids could watch it. They made up for it by watching not 1, not 2, but 3 football games later in the day. And I totally joined them.
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It was incredibly windy, grey, and cold so we ran outside for just a few pictures before settling inside for the day.
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The Thanksgiving Day group (and possibly the most unflattering picture of me ever taken).
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They absolutely love their Uncle Matt.
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Writing out her Thankful List. I am hoping the lists made it home with me because hers was all sweet with things like family, cousins, mommy and daddy, and bringing me home from Korea. Camden's was all full of nature and grass. And the Wii. Difference between boys and girls I guess. In all fairness, I told him that if he was thankful for the Wii, then he could absolutely include it.
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Photobombed by my mom and brother.
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Out of the blue Camden decided he wanted my mom to teach him to crochet. He spent hours making this chain.
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Instead of Black Friday shopping, we all went to the Festival of the Trees - a Quad Cities tradition.
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We also ate Whitey's ice cream, because it's not a visit to the Quad Cities unless there is ice cream involved.
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Brian and I were able to skip out on family traditions and go see Skyfall - no pictures, but it was fun!

And Rory sobbing this morning on the way to school because she didn't want to go to school - she wanted to go back to Grandpa and Grandma's house. Good news is that Christmas is only a month away.
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I hope your Thanksgiving was as full of things to be thankful for as ours was.










Comments

Vicky said…
Ahhh- its looks relaxing and fun. I love the in the moment quality of your phone photos- they're sometimes my personal favorites. I totally agree with Rory- even I was a little reluctant to ship everyone off this morning :)
Janice said…
Ah-the Festival of Trees and Whitey's Ice Cream! Two things I miss most about the Quad Cities.
For some reason, you are on my mind constantly these days. I pray for you each day and am happy to be able to stay updated on your life through this blog!
Norman said…
Looks like a good time was had by all--thanks for posting--loved it.
Sounds like a fabulous weekend! But poor, sweet Rory... so sad at the end!
Amy said…
I always love reading your family holiday recaps! Sounds like a wonderful time. Poor Rory! Hope her smile was back by the afternoon.
Anonymous said…
Hi Melissa! I've been following your blog for quite a while... sorry I've never commented before. We have a daughter adopted from Vietnam and at the time of her adoption four years ago, I began following a lot of other blogs as well. I just noticed your post about the Festival of Trees in the QC. Are you from the area? I am as well:) We were actually there for Thanksgiving too! And my daughter at the Festival of Trees!

I'm always so impressed and inspired by how well you keep up your blog. I too am a photographer and have a hard time keeping up with my personal photos. But I've made that my goal for the next week to get my blog all up to date again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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