On Wednesday evening, my mom brought over a gift sent down from Granny to help get in the winter spirit. Look how cute these magnets are! The girls had so much fun putting Frosty on the fridge, and they love having him up.
On Thursday, we all got up and enjoyed a nice, easy morning together. Mia actually wasn't feeling very well; a cough and runny nose had her up several times during the night. Still, we enjoyed breakfast and then watching the Macy's parade. Lily really enjoyed it, but she did get bored with all the commercials; have there always been this many? While Mia was taking a late morning nap, I started cooking our dish for our family get together. We carried on our tradition of going to my cousin, Sid and Elaine's, house. We gladly welcomed a couple of "extra" people there this year, and I believe Meme said she counted 72 people! It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone. It was a beautiful day, so the kids had a blast running around and playing outside. Mandy was able to get a picture of everyone that was there just before lunch; about 10 more family members came afterwards, but this is most of us. Ryan and Mia are on the far left of the third row while Lily and I are on the second row, second from the left (that's Mandy the photographer next to us). We stayed until the girls just couldn't stay awake any longer, and they fell asleep in the car. We came home, ate a small dinner and went to bed. What a wonderful day! 
Our 4 year old blessing!
Our 2 year old blessing!
On Friday, we took it very easy. Mia had a very rough night with her coughing; we're pretty sure it turned into croup. So Friday, we just hung around and rested. Nothing too exciting! On Saturday (again, Mia had a rough night), the four of us picked up Meme and went to the Optimist's Club's annual pancake breakfast. This is a fundraiser they hold every year, and we love it. First of all, it's delicious! They serve pancakes and sausages; so yummy! Second, it's fun to see old friends and catch up. Even though Dad wasn't there because he and Mom are at the lake (he's been a member of the Optimist Club for 35+ years now), it was still a good time.
On Saturday evening, Ryan and I put the girls to bed, and then we put up our Christmas tree. We love doing this! Here's a picture of the finished product. It doesn't do it justice.
The main reason we love putting up our tree is because we get to look over our ornaments. Whenever we take a vacation, our souvenir is always a Christmas ornament. We record each one in a special book, so we'll always know where we got it. It's a fun tradition for us to look at each ornament and reminisce about the fun times we have shared together. Here is the ornament we got this summer while in Alaska. I'll admit that we actually bought it at a Wal-Mart in Anchorage, but it was the perfect reminder of the village we visited. You have the little log church close to the water with the forest all around it. Of course, we were there in the summer so we didn't see the snow or Northern Lights, but we can imagine this is what it will look like in the winter. Ryan has plans to go back in March, so he'll let us know!
On Sunday, Ryan stayed home with Mia while Lily and I went to church. Lily couldn't wait to get home though because I promised she and Mia could decorate their tree as soon as we got back. They had so much fun putting all their ornaments up; they have jingle bells, candy canes, a few homemade ornaments and some recently purchased princess ornaments. Here's a picture of them having fun decorating.
Proud of their tree.
Even though Mia didn't feel very well this weekend, it was still a lovely weekend. Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays. I try to count my many blessings daily, but I like that there is a special day set aside just for this purpose. I hope you all were able enjoy the holiday and remember all the blessings you have in your life. Know that we are thankful for you!
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