Thanksgiving 2012

So very thankful for the God that chased me down, and the Savior who rescued me, and for the daily grace and abundant life that has followed. And for two clever, beautiful little boys to nurture and train, for one creative, smart, servant-hearted, and funny-as-heck man to be devoted to and share this life with, and for a family, both near and far, both blood-born and cobbled together by marriage or deep friendship, that I carry around in my heart with me always. You know who you are. Thank you for blessing me with you.



We were blessed to celebrate Thanksgiving at my Uncle's home here in Tucson, with my mom and brother. My uncle moved to Tucson fairly recently, and having family that shares my life history and memories and right here in Tucson with me just fills my heart to overflowing. And it had been TWO years since I had seen my brother - he works as a deckhand on a boat and is on board for a month at a time. So I was incredibly excited for Thanksgiving, and it did not disappoint. We lounged, we ate, we gave thanks, and we footballed.

Our hosts, my uncle and aunt

The turkey master

 

BB was happy because he got to watch endless amounts of TV

Kyle doing his part

Handsome uncle and brother

We did our "formal" group shots pretty early in the day, and that is definitely the way to go - fresh attitudes, fresh makeup, no food on the clothes yet.

GG

Family shot! Even the dog Destiny got in on the action.

I got elected to carve the turkey, so I had to get a shot with the turkey master.

The men of Thanksgiving

Happy little feaster

Pumpkin Carving

Remember our pumpkins from Apple Annie's? Here they are in action, along with a silly little man.

Trying to look scary, like a knife-wielding pumpkin killer

Do you see what it is?

I actually did this pre-Chia Gnome (who is currently sprouting on our dining room table, if you were curious)

The finished products

J's Intricate Franken-pumpkin

The "other" painted pumpking...this one was supposed to be SS's, but of course I turned around and found BB painting away :)

And all lit up:

Apple Annie's 2012

J's family made our becoming-annual Fall family visit to Apple Annie's Orchard in Wilcox the weekend before Halloween. At Apple Annie's we reveled in Fall by eating pumpkin pancakes with apple cider syrup (which sadly was not available to purchase - I was ready to buy a gallon of it to last until next year so this was deeply disappointing), and we picked pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, and we watched the boys play in the giant bins of corn kernels. I was in Amateur Photographer Heaven (thanks to J's sis who had an extra camera card since I forgot mine!!!). And thus, here are way too many photos of our Fall family fun.

E'rybody on the Tractor

 

BB just wanted to drive drive drive the tractor

BB spent a lot of special time with Papa this visit - he loved riding in the wheelbarrow around the orchard

Punkins

My handsome little man

My lil punkins

SS just wanted to touch the pumpkins - Nacky pointed out that they look like balls, which he loves to play with, so maybe that's why?  You can see him cutely reaching for the pumpkins in the next couple pictures:

And of course, a family pic

 

Aren't Auntie Shawna and Mr. Jeff fun?

(I am so bummed about the glare in the pic on the right)

More Punkin Poses

Corn field on the way to the pumpkin patch

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin soil between his toes

In this next series of pictures, you can watch SS figure out how to slide down the pumpkin.

 Freedom!

 

Mr. Jeff fashioned BB a belt out of some pumpkin stalk after BB's pants were slipping down

This photo is such a classic BB photo, so very him right now. Not sure if it's a ninja or what - he is such a playful little boy.

My sweetness

And here's SS playing "Throw-it-down-someone-pick-it-up-throw-it-back-down"

I want to preface these pictures by saying that this would definitely be a punishable offense, however apparently it is a "game" that BB and Nacky play that Nacky encourages in Nacky and Papa's backyard. Yes, that is my son throwing dirt clods at his grandmother. Mama is totally out of the loop on this one. So I just took some pictures.

Here are some sweet Nacky-SS pictures to make up for the above photos.

I love this Papa-BB picture. They have such a special bond.

Mr. Jeff pushed BB all over the orchard in that wheelbarrow

Another classic BB pic - such a goofball

Corn Kernel Fun - Who Needs A Sanbox?