Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving has come and gone and what a whirlwind of travel it was!

We started off in Jackson on Wednesday night to see Russ' family. It was so crazy busy that I took zero pictures...such a bummer. I vow to do better at the Brasfield Christmas celebration. The kids had a great time playing with new toys and cousins that we didn't leave until almost 9:30p! That meant that we didn't get to Clarksville that night until midnight. Shoot me now! We got the kids to bed, unloaded the car and went to bed ourselves.

Caroline decided not to sleep and ended up in the bed with us for only the 2nd time ever in her life. (Ironically, the other time was Thanksgiving Eve last year.) Russ and I each probably only got 3 hours sleep. So, when my alarm went off on Thanksgiving morning, I was really dragging. We left for Bardstown, KY to see my family around 8:30a. The drive was good and as we got closer, there was SNOW covering the mountains and grass. It was super pretty and thankfully did not impact our drive. The kids did great in the car (very thankful for our DVD player), except Caroline has now started undressing herself on long trips. Her shoes, socks and bow are always the first to go, but this time she somehow managed to get her arms out of her sweater and pull her tights halfway off while strapped into the car seat. She looked like a hot mess when we arrived! HA!

My extended family has grown so large that this is 2nd year we have done Thanksgiving in a church building instead of at someone's house. It's not near as cozy, but takes the pressure off of someone having to get their home ready for 60+ people, so it works. We had a larger space this year and the kids loved running around in the big open space. The food was good, the company was even better and the kids did great without naps. But by 5:30p, both kiddos were delirious from all the activity. We decided to stay overnight at Margaret and Frankie's this year and they both fell asleep instantly on the short 5 minute drive to their house from the church.

Caroline's boots were the hit of the day...especially when I told everyone they
were almost 2 sizes too big so they would fit over her chubby legs and feet! :)

Bridget, Abigail, Addison, Larry, Frank and Martha

Sweet Addison is just a few weeks younger than Caroline.

Caroline and sweet cousin Kate!

These girlies had fun coloring.

Surprisingly, Caroline LOVES to color and will actually sit still to do it!

We were missing several, but here are the cousins!
Adelaide, Addison, Tyler, Jack, Cooper, Caroline, Isabelle, Abigail, Kate, Tanner, Molly and Gabe

Oh how I love this picture and these people!
Larry, Donna, Kim, Cheryl, Pauline, Joe Pat, Katie, Kim, Margaret, Amy and Tanner
(There was also a TV room with football and that's where a lot of the guys lived...)

Kim and Katie hugging on Tanner...the newest addition to the family.

After a good night's sleep (thankfully!), we got up to breakfast and visited a little more before making the drive back to Clarksville.  Caroline was again undressed when we arrived, managing to completely get out of her shirt, the little Houdini! We got them lunch and down for a late nap and Russ, Brian and I went to see the new Hunger Game movie, Mockingjay. It was really good, though I didn't remember too much from the book since I read it so long ago.

Caroline playing at Frankie and Margaret's before we left town.

Pushing her babies in her stroller.

Saturday, we had Thanksgiving Round 3 in Clarksville, since Nannie and Tom don't make the trip anymore to KY. Aunt Carol and Uncle Mark came back in town from Franklin and our dear Granna cooked another entire Thanksgiving meal again. That night, I got to visit with Erin, my oldest childhood friend, who was also in town visiting family, which was so great!

Caroline sitting with Nannie.

I don't think anyone was ready for this picture! :)

Look at this big girl sitting on the bar stool like her brother!
And this is her smiling face...saying cheese so big her eyes close!

Tyler with the wishbone the day after...we forgot to pull it apart!

Tyler and Caroline trying to pull it apart...

Daddy and Tyler trying...this thing would just not break!

Thanksgiving's over...let's break out the Christmas clothes!

Getting rowdy!

This girl loves to dance!

We packed up and headed back to Memphis on Sunday morning. I wasn't feeling too hot and had gotten sick a couple times before we left town, but thankfully was ok on the drive home. We are thankful to be home after a great trip!