I admit, my blogging has been very lax lately…Life has gotten in the way a bit.  It seems that when the holidays start, time goes by on hyper-drive.  Especially now that Brook is old enough to really understand what holidays mean and wants to celebrate them to the fullest.  It’s really a lot of fun seeing her discover all the traditions that this time of year brings.

But, since this blog is a diary of my families life, I want to play catch up on what has happened for the past couple of weeks…

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  It started out on Wednesday.  Brook’s school had a Thanksgiving Potluck in which we all brought a dish to share.  The kids sang some songs and said a prayer and then we all got to dig in.  This year I made a green bean casserole from scratch and I must say that it was fantastic.  I don’t have the recipe written yet, but it’s what I took to the school and it was amazing.  I also brought a homemade stuffing and it was pretty darn good too, although it just was a basic sausage and cranberry stuffing.

Brook and Ellie Dressed for the Thanksgiving Feast at School

On Thursday, I got up and dragged my Mom and my neighbor Scott to a running event.  I figured if I was going to eat a bajillion calories, I should at least try to combat it with a 10-mile running event.  It was a great event…we ran in Peoria and it was a beautiful trail that was along a canal.  I felt pretty good during the whole race and although it was a really big challenge I finished around 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Not bad considering that the last time I ran that kind of distance was before I started to try and have baby #2.  I feel like I am ready for the PF Chang’s Half this January!

Scott, Mom and Myself at the Turkey Run

After the run, we went to our Aunt Julie’s house for the feast.  Now you may wonder why the biggest and most important meal of the year wasn’t at my house.  Well, it was supposed to, but Julie called me and wanted it to be at her house and even though I did miss making the big meal, I certainly didn’t miss cleaning before and after the meal.  Therefore, I was happy to pass the reins over to her and only make a harvest salad to share that day.

Our Thanksgiving Table

We soon found out why Julie wanted Thanksgiving at her house.  We all went around the table telling the family what we are grateful for and when it came around to Cole, he got down on one knee and proposed to Christine!  It was so wonderful to share such an intimate moment with them.  Let me tell you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.  She, of course, said yes and we are so happy to be welcoming her into our little clan!

Cole Proposing to Christine

On Friday we made our way down to Tucson to have Thanksgiving dinner #3!  Yes, now it’s time to loosen that belt on our jeans!  But, this holiday is all about family and eating, so we had to make sure we did it up right!  So we all got into our Jeep and took the two hour drive to my Aunt’s house for yet another awesome meal!

Baby Blake with Baby Waldo at the Tucson Thanksgiving

My cousin and her boyfriend bought a new puppy that day and we all had a blast playing with new baby Waldo!  We also met JJ’s grandparents for the first time and his Grandma, “Ya-Ya,” literally was the cutest person I ever met.  She is Thai and about 4’9″ and 80 lbs and she was completely in love with Blake.  She tried carrying him around everywhere and since he is like 1/4 of her weight, it wasn’t an easy feat.  She loved playing with Blake and he instantly fell in love with her, it was adorable!

Saturday we decided to take down the fall decorations and start trimming the tree…It was great to just be home and to relax and ring in the Christmas season!

Brook and Blake Checking Out the New Trimmed Tree

Finally, we get to the GRAND FINISH!  On Sunday we celebrated my 32nd birthday!  It started with sleeping in which is a rare luxury for me.  Then we went out all together to a Family Birthday Breakfast Brunch.  After that, I forced Shannon to steal me away.  We went shopping, got a massage and then got a pedicure.  It’s become a tradition between Shanny and I.  This type of day is a must for both of our birthday’s and I tell you I wouldn’t have it any other way!

All Dressed Up for My 32nd Birthday!

Then I came home and got dolled up and Travis and I went to our favorite date night place, Flemings.  It was fantastic like always!  Then we met back up with Shannon and a few other friends for some birthday drinks and antics.  I won’t say much more other than it was a birthday that I will never forget!

Hanging Out with Some Friends on My Birthday.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend!  We really kicked up our heels, gained some weight and made some wonderful memories.  Hopefully I can keep up on writing a little bit better from now on…

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 5:28 pm and is filed under Daily Life, Holiday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.