a week of thanks

I'm going to spare you the time it would take to read paragraphs describing our week of Thanksgiving in Colorado, and just post the photos with captions and brief descriptions.  And I know it'll be hard to believe, but I have left out a LOT of the photos I was originally going to put in.  You can thank me later.  So get ready for the longest post of photos ever.  For real.

I'll try not to do this again.

We went to Colorado for a whole week.  It's always fun to see family.

  Here's my sweet mom holding my daughter.

This was the first morning after we arrived, and the first time I'd seen my sister and her new baby boy since he was born!  There's something special, and oh so wonderful, about that very first baby that throws you right into parenthood.

That first Sunday, before Thanksgiving, I asked my dad to take a couple of family shots for us.

These are our three little munchkins.  They love each other.

A lot.

I just like this next picture because it captures Graham.  He has always (yes, always, since the day he was born) been content to just observe his surroundings.

Me and Shad.  We're happy.

And this is the whole crew.  Thanks again Dad!

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a group of us took the young ones to the Children's Museum in Denver.  Below: Shad dancing with Graham.

The room with clay was a hit with everyone.  Drake is displaying a well he made with his dad.

My sister and my mom getting in on the fun.

Matt made a grenade.  See how happy that makes him?

This is my niece, Ivy, working hard.

And her brother, Jack, also intent on making something.

Our chunky Avery got worn out.

We brought lunch with us, and found a little cafeteria to eat it in.

Graham crawling through a "worm hole".

Jack and Drake making stuff out of recycled materials.

Shad and Matt enjoying the animal puppets.  (Avery and Jack enjoyed the lily pad mobiles too).

Drake and Jack having fun.

Matt was extra excited to be there.

Once we finished indoors, the kids played on the playground outside--and we thought we had to pay and go inside to have fun!

This is a rock snake (one of several rock animals outside).

The boat-theme playground.

Ivy dumping sand out of her shoe for the umpteenth time.

The morning of Thanksgiving, we had the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the TV.

My boys were enthralled.

Here you can see they weren't alone.  Cousin Austin was with them.  Ah, the "true spirit of Thanksgiving" (it says so right on the TV, so it must be true).

Graham loving Austin.

And again.

That same morning, my husband and several of my brothers went to the park to play in the traditional "Turkey Bowl" (touch football) game.  My husband got hurt two years ago when he played... and this year didn't disappoint.  He got an elbow right in his sternum...  I dare say he may sit out next time.

The thanksgiving feast was wonderful, as always.  Much thanks to Mom and everyone else who helped out (but mostly Mom).

The adult table of plenty.

The kids' table.

My husband and my sister's husband doing the dishes afterward.

And proof that they love getting their picture taken.

Aside from the above-mentioned events, the rest of the week was just a lot of hanging out.  Some people went shooting.  My bro-in-law and I hit the early morning Black Friday deals.  The adults played a murder mystery game (I wish I had pictures of that!).  We all went and played wallyball one night.  I think because we all get together only once a year (and this was the first time in a few years that we were actually all there),  we try to fit in as much as we can.  But it's fun.

Mary and Lincoln filling the home with beautiful music.

The kids playing in the snow and on the trampoline.

Graham thinking about eating the snow.

Graham eating the snow.

Drake thrilled to be out playing in the snow.  That's a face of pure delight right there.

Jack getting his hands warmed up by his ever-warm dad.

All us siblings on one couch.

All eight of my parents' grandchildren, in no particular order.

The four newest grandbabies born between June and October.  I love how defined the rolls on Avery's arms are.  Love it.

A different angle of the four newbies.

My mom feeding Austin (my sister's baby) from a bottle for the first time... he loved it.

Ivy, Lincoln and Graham, discussing politics I'm sure.

The only two girl cousins, stickin' together.

Here are my two boys, listening to Mother Goose tell them a story.  I loved this goose growing up.  Her lips move when she talks, and her eyelids even blink from time to time.

Drake loved following along in the book.  Graham never quite warmed up to the fact that an otherwise inanimate object was talking to him.

I just love this girl, so here's a picture.

The cousins watching a movie together.

Mary overseeing the puzzle-solving.

Uncles Nathan and Trent having fun on the tramp with kiddos.

The whole gang minus my parents.

A rare shot that actually has me in it, and my wide-eyed daughter.

Very wide-eyed.

I like this picture.  My brother Nathan took this shot while we were all at the rec center playing Wallyball.

My Dad wanted to make sure we had a picture of the whole group.  Of the tens (or hundreds or thousands) that were taken, there wasn't one picture where every single person was looking, with their eyes open.  But we got close a few times.

The siblings lovin' their parents...

... and each other.

The Sunday morning after Thanksgiving, after a fun, long week in Colorado, we left for home.  With kids, it usually takes us around 10 hours to drive home.  Because I needed to be back in Poky by 6:00 p.m. to play in a community orchestra concert, not to mention a violin trio, we left just after 4:00 a.m., to make sure we had plenty of time to get back and hit a church along the way.

It's hard to tell, but this a picture of us looking out at a car that was flipped over onto it's top, in the median.  The roads were slick, so we took it slow.

This is the southbound traffic, which we were glad we weren't stuck in because we needed to get home.  Good thing we weren't over there, huh?

Oh, wait.  This is us pulling off into a gas station because we did get stuck... in Cheyenne.  They closed I-80 West and eventually I-25 South.  Guess we'll go to church in Cheyenne.

After spending 5 1/2 hours in Cheyenne, Wyoming, they opened I-80 again, and we were on our way.  So, yeah, unfortunately we didn't make it back in time for the performance I had committed to play in.  I hated making the call to one of the ladies I was supposed to play in the trio with to tell her it would have to be a duet.

Our kids did well in the car though.  Avery slept like a tank, as always.

Drake and Graham had a blast, if you can't tell.

And finally, after a 17+ hour trip, we made it home.  I told you this would be a long post.  I really just wanted to make you feel like you were in that car with us the whole drive home.  Did it work?

I truly am grateful for how richly blessed I am.  Words cannot describe the overflowing gratitude that accompanies so many different aspects in my life.  Thanks to my sweet husband and kids for making my life wonderful.

And thanks for making it to the end of this post, if in fact you did.

Until next post.