There is no one I'd rather be with than with my family. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I got two of the best parents who are the biggest support and encouragement to all of us, three of the coolest siblings who married great additions to our family, and the absolute greatest nieces and nephews who just happen to be nine of my most favorite people in the entire world. It hasn't always been easy in our family and there were times when we had a very broken home, but what we have made out of it all has been wonderful. I love that this is the type of family my children know and are growing up in.
We were so blessed to have most of my family come to our house this year for Thanksgiving! Erik had no time off for the holiday and since I didn't want to leave Erik alone, my family decided to come to us. We actually slept all 17 of us at our house, instead of getting hotel rooms, so we could be together as much as possible. I loved it every single minute of it.
Our nights were filled with games and movies.
My niece Brittany brought her bunny, Furbie, and he just ran around the house most of the time.
Erik actually got some time off on Thanksgiving Day and he did the honors of cutting the turkey.
He insisted that the turkey, even though was cut, needed to still look like a turkey. Ha! He did a very good job cutting the turkey and displaying the turkey.
The kids' table - Maida, Skogen, my nephew Kellen, and my niece Natalie
The old folks table :) - Klaasen Burke, my mom, my dad, my brother Tony, Tony's wife Melva, and my sister Kim
The cool table. :) Hehe - my sister-in-law Nancy, Erik, me, T, my niece Brittany, my brother Jay, and my niece Sarena
After we ate most of the afternoon, we went on a family walk around the neighborhood and then ended in the city park, which is in our backyard, for a soccer game.
That night, we went Black Friday Thursday shopping! This is the only picture I took the entire night - the kids' school uniforms for next year! It was 50% off everything in Old Navy, so I stocked up!
On Friday morning, the girls all went for pedicures! Awwww relaxation.
You can never go wrong with pedicures.
We totally didn't take a family picture of all of us together (BUMMER!), but I'm thankful we got one of me and my siblings.
On Friday afternoon, I gave the fam a quick tour of the clinic and hospital! We even ran into Erik at work and he showed us the newly remodeled emergency department!
Friday night we squeezed in a bowling game!
Nothing better after bowling and below zero temps than homemade ice cream from a famous locally owned homemade ice cream shop!!!
On Saturday morning, everyone except my parents and my sister had to leave. My mom and sister and I were able to do some shopping that afternoon and then my cousin Myra, who was traveling through town, came for an overnight visit. Sunday morning after church we ate lunch at the Olive Garden.
On Sunday afternoon, I was interviewed by a local news station about how our family monitors screen time with our children. It was very interesting to be on the other side of the news. They also filmed footage of the kids. The story aired that night - the kids were thrilled to see themselves on TV!!!
My sister's plane back to Arizona was supposed to fly out around 7pm on Sunday. It was delayed 4 hours, so we decided to go get our Christmas tree!
I had so much fun decorating with my sister and wish we lived closer to all of my family so we could spend more times like this together.
Christmas is coming soon and we are looking forward to Nana, Erik's mom being here with us. How did I get so lucky to marry into such a great family, too? We are so so so so so so blessed!
Christmas is coming soon and we are looking forward to Nana, Erik's mom being here with us. How did I get so lucky to marry into such a great family, too? We are so so so so so so blessed!
