Thanksgiving 2014

What a lovely day!  We started in Pittsburgh with our final trip preparations and were out the door with the van loaded with gear, pies and boys to head to Nana & PopPop's by 8:15am.  We arrived right at 11:15am (there was zero traffic!).  Koen and Tavin walk in as if it's there own place and immediately are comfortable with cousins, aunt, uncles, Nana, PopPop and the dogs.  Penn, on the other hand, despite the fact that he's been asking for Nana & PopPop incessantly the last few days, needed a little time to warm up to everyone.  But don't worry he did (as you will see in the pics below).  Koen and Tavin quickly noticed the better snowfall Nana & PopPop had gotten yesterday and were out in it making snowmen, snow forts and snowballs with their cousins only a few minutes after arriving.  Penn looked on as they created "Olafs" all over the yard.

While his brothers were outside, Penn got some nice attention from his cousin Kiersten which totally helped him relax and settle in.

I snapped a picture of our finished product placecard craft.  The boys didn't want to use the sticks we had gathered at the park last weekend, so we left them out of the tops of the tepees (personally I wanted to follow the rules, but the craft wasn't really about me, right?).  You can see all their very interesting designs on the tepees.  More little boy mazes, shapes, rockets, etc. than Native American etchings, but you get the idea.

Penn later got some Lego time with Casey.  He was loving the attention and loving the opportunity to creatively play with big boy Legos.  Doug and I were super impressed with his attention to the task and his dexterity in playing with these tiny toys.  I guess he's watched his brothers do it enough to know it's fun and worth the concentration!

Eventually the kids outside got cold and came in to join Penn.  It is so fun to see the boys with their cousins (and Doug and I were commenting on how it's so cute that even though they all don't get together much, there seems to be this understood connection or acceptance and they just all work together to hang out well).

After awhile it was dinnertime.  First though, we had a special prayer to bless the meal.  All the kids got to participate in reading a Psalm.  PopPop and Kiersten worked on the coordination of it all and they had parts for each cousin (even Penn!).  Here's a picture of everyone gathered around for the reading.

Here's a video (I missed the very start for some reason with the video, but you get to see the majority of this sweet blessing).

Then it was time to eat!  Nana did an amazing job as usual and it was all delicious and we were all quite satisfied (and sort of ready for a nap) afterwards.  The kids again went out to play in the snow.  I was so thankful they were able to get so much time outdoors and that there was this great form of entertainment available!

Tav was looking too cute standing at the window.  I just had to get his picture and then Sadie walked in at the perfect moment.  Tav will be excited she happens to be in the background (she's his favorite, Koen's is Kenzie).

Nana did a great job of making sure that we didn't forget to take a family photo since we were all together this Thanksgiving.  It's been awhile since that's happened and so we had to take advantage of the opportunity.  Scott got the best picture of the mini photo session, so here it is to share.

After the photo, we hung out for a little while longer enjoying each other's company before all hitting the road.  Penn had a blast with Kiersten getting totally slap happy in his skipped-nap state.  It was adorable and it was so fun to see how Kiersten connected with him.  He adored her (and all that attention!).  Thanks for being such a pal to him, Kiersten!

What a great visit!  Thanks so much to Nana & PopPop for hosting such a big crew.  It was a blessing to get to be together as one big family.  The boys loved the opportunity to be with you and their cousins.  We are so thankful for all of you!  Happy Thanksgiving!