Thanksgiving 2012

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year! Thanksgiving morning, we headed over to Sam & Jenna's to great ready for the big meal!
We watched a little of the Macy's parade, including Santa!!

Ellie wasn't sure what to think at first....

Then she was thrilled!

I tried my hand at Neenaw's sweet potatoes- 

they didn't turn out as good as hers, but they were still good!

"SAY CHEESE!!!" Yes, I really said that.

 The girls in their Thanksgiving tub

 The dessert spread... minus a Texas Sheet Cake. Yes, I gained 30 pounds.

Ellie & Brook mastered the grape kebabs:

 Happy Family

 Crazy family

 Sarah brought this amazing turkey hat... it was awesome

 A little fun at the playground

Poor quality photo, but Sam laid out an amazing turkey spread!

 Happy Thanksgiving!!

 Harry and Sarah: The New Sam & Jenna... :)

 Ellie's Belly....  I think she ate too much

And Uncle Harry too

And to finish the day off...

(Emma had to leave for a soccer tournament around 4, so we had to improvise :)

Douglass Visit

The whole Douglass clan got to come out for Thanksgiving in Colorado this year, like last year. Harry and Sarah unfortunately didn't get here until Wednesday, but Dad, Mom, & Emma came the Saturday before!

First things first, we had to get started off on the right foot.

Grandma read the girls a few stories :)

Saturday evening, we headed DT for dinner at Rock Bottom and to catch the latest Warren Miller film. We were supposed to win free boots from this... we never win.

Sunday we had street tacos at Sam & Jenna's (SO GOOD!) and then played a few riveting games of Idiot... it was a LOT of fun, if you couldn't tell. Jenna was the only one who escaped NOT being the idiot... I was the idiot four times... out of seven games... not my finest hour.

Monday we spent the morning lounging... on Grandpa apparently.

We call it "the Grandpa Lounger, by Lazy Boy"

Then we headed to Fun City for a little bowling!

Dena, Emma, Jenna, & Mom

Ellie, Brook, Grandpa... yes, Brook beat all of us.

Grandma smoked us all on the second game- 160!!

The girls' celebration high fives after every roll :)

We love to bowl!

Brook got a few strikes- she knows she's awesome.

On Tuesday, we went and got ski passes for everybody.

Then we went mini golfing! Brook of course got her customary hole in one. She's a prodigy! Emma & Grandma also got holes in one.

  

Wednesday, most everyone went skiing and the girls and I stayed home and prepped our part of the meal for Thanksgiving. They helped with the rolls and did a great job!

Friday, the girls and I decorated for Christmas while the rest of the group went skiing. That night we watched Polar Express. Brook was exhausted from such a fun week, she passed out in the middle. She is obsessed with Sarah!

Saturday, we hiked & biked up at Alderfer, a beautiful area with tons of trails.

Saturday afternoon, everyone but Sarah had to head out. We were so sad to see them go- we had so much fun and are missing everyone terribly!

Jenna, Sarah, and I got to have a little girls' night on Saturday before Sarah had to leave Sunday morning- we had a lot of fun visiting and playing Bananagrams. Sisters are so fun!

Fun at Regis

We took Ben to school Wednesday to go to his favorite lunch spot:

It was delicious! Afterwards, we got to do something pretty fun.

Ben has an ultrasound machine at his school he's been encouraged to "play around with." Pretty sure they meant for physical therapy type needs, but we decided to put it to good use for us!

It was pretty neat to have Ben operating the machine and getting to watch our little one squirm and move and be uncooperative :)

(DISCLAIMER: we call the baby a boy, but we DON'T know the gender yet, it's just a force of habit for Ben :), or maybe wishful thinking)

We have our official ultrasound on December 14th- we are very excited! 

Finally I'll get to start shopping for Baby!

Happy 29 Benjamin!

He got to go skiing. He got a few fun gifts. We had Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Did a little man shopping. Out to dinner at Costa Vida.  

Sunday he had a pancake breakfast and got to watch his oldest do a great job in her primary program. Then cake from Sam and Jenna- and a coupon for 24 hours kid free!!

We played Yahtzee and Brook killed us all- she got TWO YAHTZEES! One was all sixes!! Seriously Brook?!?! You're supposed to let Dad win on his birthday :)

Sunday night I felt the baby kick for the first time- it was a wonderful day!

On the Friday after Ben's birthday, we went to Rodizio's to claim Ben's free birthday meal with Sam and Jenna (her birthday is Nov 9th). Love that place! We ate til we were sick...

He had a great birthday! We love him so much! And I'm just glad we're the same age again :)