Thanksgiving 2012

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! 

It may sound strange, but one of my favorite days of the year is the day before Thanksgiving. We have a tradition in our family- all the grand kids help make the cornbread dressing. They love to squish and crumble the bread into the official dressing-making bowl. There is laughter, a little taste testing, and a lot of fun. 

Rachael ready to get started

All the kids gathered around the bowl and began the yearly tradition

Little  cousin hands ranging in age from 1 year to 10 years old



Of course my children couldn't help but get a few tastes along the way












All four cousins. So fun.



After all the other kids were finished helping, Rachael was still more than happy to "help" Ma finish up. And she may have gotten a few more bites during the process...



The next day was a very, very busy day for us- THANKSGIVING!!

We started out by celebrating our day of thanks with Ma's family. It was great to be with extended family, but there was also a hole, an emptiness, a major void that we have never felt before. This was the first major holiday since the loss of my Papaw. It was harder than I thought it would be. It was hard to enjoy the day without him there. He was greatly missed. We honored his memory as we all stood holding hands for the blessing and I know he was right there with us in spirit.

After the blessing it was time to eat!

David gave the turkey leg a run for it's money



And Rachael loved every bite, as always. Is that turkey bow not adorable?!


After we ate we all headed outside to enjoy the beautiful, sunny weather.

David went fishing immediately


And Rachael went for a walk. It turns out thick grass is hard to walk in when you're new to it.



Daddy to the rescue! Such a sweet picture


Rachael also had a great time hanging out with some of her family she doesn't get to see very often, like her Great-Aunt Sheila.



Oh! And Ryan took this beautiful picture of our beautiful girl and I just had to share.



We ended our Thanksgiving at Twinkle and Bing's with Bing's side of the family. We had dinner with everyone and then stayed the night so we could spend a little bit more time with them.

We had so much fun jumping on the trampoline


And oh my goodness, Rachael received an incredibly special gift from her Great-Aunt Carol! This bedspread was handmade by Rachael's Great-Great Grandmother, Bing's paternal grandmother, for Aunt Carol when she was a little girl. It adorned her bed for many years and now she is passing it down to Rachael. How amazing is that?!




And then later that day David's Great-Grandparents [Twinkle's parents] came over for a short visit. His Great-Granddaddy helped him ride this way-too-big-for-him bike while his Great-Grandmother watched! What a special memory for him.