Turkey Day 2012

This Thanksgiving we loaded up and headed to Bulverde, but first we made a quick stop in Houston to pick up Braidy and to check on Nena, who was having knee replacement surgery on Wednesday morning. We arrived late Tuesday night, woke up early Wednesday, ate several Shipley's Donuts (heaven), saw Nena around lunch time (she was doing great and in good spirits!), and headed west towards San Antonio. After a huge traffic jam on I-10, we were finally on our way.

We got there and the boys were SO excited. We have literally been counting down weeks and days until we were going to Poppa's house. It was dark, so they couldn't explore much, but we were all relieved to be out of the car!

The next day was Thanksgiving! We woke up early and Poppa took all 3 boys to the airport to pick up Aunt Rachy! The rest of us stayed at the house and started cooking. When the boys got home, they went straight outside and started playing and the daddy's went outside to start stuff for frying the turkey. The girls helped JJ cook, and took a few notes along the way. Quin helped a little, and Braidy make a "Yittle boy pie" out of some extra pie crust dough, a few blueberries, and a sprinkle of sugar. They cooked it, and ya'll, it was SO good! Braidy was really proud of his pie!

One memory we will laugh about in the years to come. Jan had made 2/3 pies ahead of time and put them in the office, which is just off of the kitchen. Well my sneaky little Braidy, somehow spied them, crept his way into the office and had taken a pretzel through the middle of the pumpkin pie, and had eaten a small chunk of crust off the pecan pie. JJ was not too happy and I felt terrible. He apologized, and thankfully we all laughed about it later, but we will not forget that little mishap!

We ate a late lunch and it was AMAZING! I love Thanksgiving! Everything was delicious and I tasted brussel sprouts for the first time, and really liked them. While we were eating, Poppa and JJ asked the big boys what they were thankful for. Crockett answered with "Cows"...which is pretty appropriate. Braidy's answer? Sharks. Crockett looked at him with a puzzled look and said, "Did he just say sharks???" It was pretty funny and we all got a good laugh. We ate and ate until we were stuffed. However we did save a little room for some pie! DUH!

The rest of the day we played outside, fed the deer, drove the Gator, looked at the burned down houses, went exploring, and took a few family photos of the Stone's that night as the sun was setting. Talk about gorgeous scenery for some pictures. Sure puts Lubbock options to shame!

Friday we went into New Braunfels to ride the train and play at the park. Uncle Mike and Aunt Carolyn came to visit us for the day, and we were so glad! They boys loved having them to entertain and wear out! By this time, all the boys, namely my firstborn, was SUCH a grouch. He was in a terrible mood, and I know he was so exhausted! Really all 3 of them were in a mood, so that didn't help circumstances....but bedtime needed to come sooner than later!!! Thankfully, Poppa and JJ went to rent the boys a movie, so they settled down and were silent for a couple hours, and then bedtime came. Thank you Jesus.

Saturday came and it was time to pack up and drive home. We were all sad to leave, but we were ready to be home and in our own beds too. I am almost positive Poppa and JJ miss the boys, but are sure loving the quietness too! We are a lot to handle when we're all together, but they are SO great to enjoy every minute we are there and be really fun grandparents who always want to do whatever it is the boys want to do!

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving. We were blessed to be with family - although we definitely missed our family who were not with us also. We live a very blessed life - and for that we are very thankful.