Thanksgiving recap

What a wonderful long weekend! I'll have to say once again... I think every weekend should be a long one. Not only did we have a break from work for 4 straight days, but we had time to make the trek to Oxford, Ohio to visit all of the Geyer family. It was so, so good.

So now, as per usual, it is time for my Monday morning update (and it's going to be a long one, I'm afraid).

We were so thankful that both of our bosses let us leave work early on Wednesday so we could hit the road! We avoided most traffic and made great time getting into Oxford. After visiting with David's parents for a while, we all hit the hay. Though it's virtually impossible to sleep in past sunrise at the Geyer's (there are no blinds on any windows), just being there is such a retreat for us. Since Cathy had to work on Thanksgiving day, we planned to celebrate on Friday. That meant David and I had plenty of time to relax on Thursday! We even ate Thanksgiving lunch at the hospital with Cathy! We also went ahead and gave Brianna her Christmas present, so we could be there to enjoy it. And boy were we glad we did! We gave her a Snow White costume, and she barely took it off all weekend. She LOVED it.

Also on Thursday we got to hang out with one of David's best friends- Mike- and his family. It's always so fun seeing and catching up with good friends, and Mike, Ellen and Rick are definitely those friends!

Friday was SO much fun. We started early with by getting out the four-wheeler out and going for a ride. We were hoping to be able to take Brianna with us, and to our surprise she was all for it! David went really slowly and carefully, but that wasn't enough fun for Bri- she kept telling him to go faster! So, we even took her across the creek and all through the woods! She's a pretty fearless 3 year old, which made it so fun for us!

All bundled up... all pink!

Man, David loves that little girl! She loves him a lot too :)

Taking a break for a self-portrait. See the elation on that little face?! (Good thing I asked for those ear muffs for Christmas 2 years ago!)

Grandma stopped us to take a picture of us all squished on there. We had a Brianna sandwich going on to keep her safe and warm.

And while we were out, I took a picture of the ever-growing wood pile... check that mound out. It literally is as large as the footprint of our house!

So after we took a break from riding the four-wheeler, we got ready and all of the family showed up! There were 21 family members there- even a few I hadn't met yet! We ate and ate and then sat around and talked for hours.


David's cousin Tonhy (not a typo- that's how he spells his name) is living in Ohio for a little while in between life plans, so he spent some time with us! I was so glad to meet him and Brianna loved playing with "Aunt Tonhy"!

Andy even stopped by!

Brianna LOVES Andy!

Do we look full and tired or what?! This is me (obviously), Brianna, Cathy, Beth, Grandma (who might actually be asleep) and Lynn (behind the couch). I'm so thankful for family that are great friends too!

Check out these cuties! I hadn't seen Matthias in a long time, and he's grown up SO much! He and Brianna are 5 months apart, and they had so much fun playing together.

And... a picture of model Brianna. This was after she literally blow dried my hair and played in my makeup bag while I got ready. She's such a girlie girl :)

Even after most of the family had left on Friday, Tonhy stayed and we played Sequence until we all were ready to crash (ok, I was ready to quit because I had lost so many games). It was SUCH a fun day full of fun people, good food and great conversations.

Saturday was just as fun! We intended to relax, eat leftovers, play games, and relax some more. We did all of that! We even surprised Tonhy by going to eat lunch at Texas Roadhouse where he's working. The cousins:

Saturday night, David and I taught Cathy, Beth, Jayme and Grandma to play Settlers of Catan. I wish I had taken pictures of that experience! We laughed SO much and mostly had a great time (I say mostly because half of the group playing hated the game and didn't want to play about half way in).

So, we went to church Sunday morning and enjoyed Cobblestone's new building for the first time. Immediately after church, we got on the road. And we stayed on the road for 2 hours longer than we should have. It literally rained the entire drive back. We got stuck in at least 4 wrecks and other bumper-to-bumper traffic kept us going slowly pretty much the whole way. David was super stressed out and we were both ready to just BE home! So, when we finally did, we nixed our plans to decorate for Christmas and just relaxed, did the laundry and went to bed early to prepare ourselves for another week of work.

And... here's the only picture of me and David from the weekend...

I couldn't be more thankful to have him as my husband. He's the best. Ever.

So, mark another fabulous Thanksgiving with the Geyers off the to do list. We have so much to be thankful for, let's try to not let that slip our minds as the seasons passes.