We are truly blessed! It is always more apparent around the holidays when we are able to spend time with family. Zack, Zander, and I participated in THREE Thanksgiving feasts this year, and we are so thankful for all the family members that made it possible to have such delicious meals in all locations. We had high hopes that our little man would start crawling over our holiday break but it has not happened yet. He really wants to! You can see the determination in his eyes. And selfishly, I wanted to be around for his first crawl. Hopefully, he will wait until we are home after work one day or on an upcoming weekend to make the first move. ;) He is really trying to stand up a lot and can even hold himself up by grabbing onto his Jumperoo. (As a side note..... I don't know why I am so ready for him to crawl.... that just means that our house will have to be "baby-proofed" and I might never sit down again!;)) Until that time.... here are some fun pictures of our holiday gatherings....
Dressed up for Thanksgiving Lunch on Thursday
We ate lunch at the country house with Grandpa Wayne, Grandma Vicki and Uncle Grant. Vicki was a life-saver and helped me cook a casserole for our second Thanksgiving meal of the day and even let me borrow a Pyrex container to keep the dish warm while we traveled to the next location. The food at the country house was so good! Vicki made her cheese ball as an appetizer and that is always a favorite of mine!
Then we made our way to the Round House which is Uncle Henry and Aunt Maude's beautiful mountain home. You can tell from the pictures below that the view is AMAZING! Zack is sporting a sweet 'stache that my sister says makes him look like the conductor from the Polar Express. I am ready for him to shave it off! ;) He said he wanted it for Thanksgiving. I might be handing him a razor tonight. ;)
Emma Claire and Zander (below)..... It is crazy to see how much Emma Claire has grown! I first met her when she was two years old and now she is almost old enough to babysit Zander!
Sadie celebrated her birthday the day before Thanksgiving so she is officially a teenager! (I have no idea what happened to the lighting of this picture.... Zack took it!)
Cousin Wade got some cuddle time in with Zander, too! (Notice Zander's outfit made it the WHOLE day!... I did have three extra outfits just in case.)
Zander was able to play with Burke on Saturday morning before the Bakewells came to celebrate Thanksgiving at our house. Burke really likes Zander's stuffed animals so he is looking for any toys he can grab while Zander isn't looking!
It is always our tradition to celebrate Thanksgiving with Zack's extended family on Thursday and with my extended family on Saturday. Zander's great-grandma Harriet took a train from Florida so she could celebrate with us this year. It was so special to have three of Zander's great-grandparents at Thanksgiving.
Beating up Uncle Boomer
The picture below somewhat looks like a few of my baby pictures. Since Zander looks a lot like his daddy, I get excited when I can find any resemblance to me!
Zander watched a little football with the boys......we are starting him early on this tradition!
Four Generations (excuse the comfy clothes that I am sporting!;))
Great Grandma Harriet
Next Saturday, Lindsey and I are running in our annual half marathon (its a tradition for us.... I ran the 5k portion last year since I was 5 months pregnant). Please pray for us as the weather is typically quite cold, and I personally have not done as much running as in years past to prepare. I have taken Zander on some runs with the jogging stroller so I keep telling myself it has to be easier to run the race knowing I won't be pushing a stroller 13.1 miles. Stay tuned.....
