One thing we are incredibly thankful for is Grandma Dawn coming to visit us every chance she can get when on break from teaching. We had such a fun long weekend with her! We love you, Grandma Dawn!!
This Thanksgiving, we spent most of the day with my family at my aunt Peggy and uncle Steve's house. They have hosted Thanksgiving for our extended family almost every year I can remember growing up and it is such a loving and warm place to spend the holidays. I tried to get a picture of everyone who was there, even if it is only the back of their head or an appendage :)
Getting ready to eat!
From left to right: Great Grandma, Great Aunt Joyce, Great Grandpa, Great Aunt Nancy, Great Aunt Peggy (her back), Great Uncle Steve, Gramps, Oma, cousin Kristin and her boyfriend, Jake (peeking around the corner), Shaylie and her daddy
Great Uncle Gary, Tycen and Grandma Dawn, cousins Jill (back of her head), Steph and Mike
Grandma Dawn, me, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma
Daddy, Shaylie and Tycen
Cousins Jill and Steph with Shaylie and Tycen
Cousin Steph, Shaylie and Uncle Kai
Cousin Kristin and her boyfriend, Jake, Great Aunt Joyce and Great Uncle Gary, Cousin Joey, Gramps, Tycen and Daddy, and Cousin Mike on the couch :)
After we left the Irvine's house, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Haij's house to say 'hello' and spend some time with Scott's great aunt, Elizabeth. Tycen and Shaylie were very excited to be able to spend time with all of their grandparents (and great-grandparents) on the same day! It was a nice ending to a very special Thanksgiving day :)
On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we thought it would be nice to have Grandpa and Grandma Haij over for a Thanksgiving dinner at our house since we didn't get to eat with them on Thanksgiving day. Grandma Dawn made a very, very yummy Thanksgiving meal for all of us. We had so much food that we even got to enjoy left-overs for a few more days! Not so sure how great that was on our waist-lines, but it sure was good for our hearts to be able to prolong the holiday for a few extra days :)
On Friday evening, we went to see the Christmas tree lighting at Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver.
Tycen and Shaylie even got to go pick out our very own Christmas tree this weekend!! We got it from the same tree lot that we've gotten our trees for the past several years.
Here is our Christmas tree all set up in the house before it was decorated. As you can see, we bought an extra super yard to put around the tree and originally we put the tree up on a table so it was out of reach. I really liked the set-up this way because it gave the kids the rest of the living room to play in while still getting to enjoy the tree. Well...the day after we set it up this way, Tycen learned how to climb up and over the couch, which was the barrier to keep him in the living room. So, we have since rearranged (this is a never ending process) and the tree is back down on the floor and the fence is enclosed as a playpen in the living room. It doesn't give them as much space to play in, but it is the next best and safest option at this point (they also have a playpen set up in the family room, too). I'll post a picture of the decorated tree and some of our other Christmas decorations soon!
