Happy Thanksgiving / Merry Christmas!!!

Last week was Thanksgiving. (Post = better late then never) Our little family has so much to be thankful for! God has truly blessed us in so many ways, and I take it all for granted so often. This year reflecting on what I am most thankful for would be the gift of life - my precious James Bradford. This time last year we were hoping and praying that God would let us have a baby if it was his will, and he awnswered that prayer! I am so thankful for my sweet James Bradford. And of course for lots of other things - generous husband, loving and supportive family, employment, and I can't forget my precious four legged daughter Sabrina (although she has been put on the back burner recently)

So Thank You, Thank You Lord for all the many blessings in my life. Especially these two sweet boys pictured above! You have given me so much to be thankful for.

This year was my family's year for Thanksgiving, meaning this year is Cory's family's year for Christmas. So we decided to have "Thanks-Mas" this year. We celebrated Thanksgiving Thursday and Christmas on Friday! It was so much fun - all of us being together.
Wednesday night we all arrived at the Lake. The house was all decorated for Christmas!!

And that night, much to our surprise, Ellen and Dan announced they are having another baby!!! The third Brooks Baby is due the first week in July. We are all so excited!! Davis and Isaac are so excited about the baby who they want to name "Honey." And we are so excited that James Bradford will have another cousin.

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving. Cory cooked a yummy breakfast brunch for everyone. He made the works - Eggs, Biscuits, Gravy, Sausage, Bacon and French Toast. YUM!! We had our big traditional Thanksgiving meal at dinner Its so much fun, because we all make our favorite things for the meal. Mom cooks the turkey and some of her favorite sides, and then we all brought 2 or 3 sides / desserts to add to the meal. Its a great fun and easy way to have a fabulous meal. Everything was delicious!! Oh and we had the most beautiful table decorations - James Bradford was the star - he sat in the middle of the table, while we all feasted!

When we woke up Sunday morning - Santa had come!

Every year mom tells us, don't get to excited, but every year the presents are piled high under the tree. I love the way our family does Christmas. I can't handle the free for all, everyone grabbing and ripping open presents. We do Christmas in rounds - starting oldest to youngest each opening a gift and everyone watching. It makes Christmas last and its so fun to see everyone opening that special gift that you picked out for them. We usually take a break half way through for mom's traditional Christmas Breakfast - but this year, we went straight through. Us big kids drew names this year, which made it go a little faster. The boys were so patient, oh and oh so cute. Ellen got Davis, Isaac and James Bradford all matching Snowman PJs to wear. They were all so cute.
One of our favorite gifts we received was from Uncle David and Aunt Laura. A Radio Flyer red wagon. James Bradford already loves it, and so does his cousins. Aren't they cute?!

On Saturday we had a big family bonfire - we roasted marshmallows, cooked hot dogs and listened to Christmas music. It was so much fun.

It was such a fun and happy Merry Christmas at the Grinnells!