Flashback: Thanksgiving 2014

With Tristan's and Gavin's birthdays falling so soon after the new year (January 11th and 12th, respectively), their birthdays are always the first events in every family scrapbook we have. However,  blogs are a little bit different than scrapbooks; despite the turn of the calendar to 2015, I thought I better catch up with some not-to-be-forgotten events from last year first.

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year because Sally and Jerry joined us for a few days. It was their first visit to our new home, and we loved having them! They arrived Tuesday night, and Wednesday we were blessed with beautiful weather. We headed to Dallas for an adventure.

Picnic at Klyde Warren Park in the Dallas Art District.
After lunch, we lounged while the guys played!

The park was filled with all sorts of activities to do, including croquet.

A good time was had by all!!!

Next, we headed to the Galleria Mall,
which boasted the largest indoor Christmas tree in the nation!
And it's tantalizingly smack in the middle of an ice-skating rink. 

Neither Caden nor Gavin had ever ice-skated before, but Tristan,
with his vast skating experience of maybe two times,
showed Caden the ropes and he soon had the hang of it.

Gavin managed to figure it out on his own, but had to pause for a
"We are so cool" photo with Tristan.

OK, now we are really moving!

That was awesome!

After the boys were done skating (and we had polished off some of those ridiculously overpriced but amazingly delicious roasted nuts you can find in the mall), we headed to try to find some Christmas lights (not much success) and get some dinner (Torchy's Tacos: Big Success!!!!! Yum!). 

We then headed home to watch a movie and prep for the big Thanksgiving Day!!! 

With the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade going on TV, we started bright and early preparing Thanksgiving dinner. The Ridings soon arrived and we were in full-fledge party mode. 

Matt, Kate, and Caden

Gary and Melissa 

Gav, Mark, and Ally (so glad those college kids got to come home!!)

A side benefit of hosting Sally and Jerry for Thanksgiving--they always prepare and cook the turkey!

Jerry--Always a helpful guy to have around on Thanksgiving!

Jerry said it was the "best turkey ever!" 

We had too many to sit at one table, so we placed some tables outside in the sunshine...

Which may not have been the best idea, since I discovered our lovely dinner guests
huddled in their coats when I went to snap a picture. 

Notice this crew is also in their jackets. Oh dear!
I'm confident their bellies were happy all the same.  

Chris, Amy, Jen, and Tristan
Next year, where will these two young men be celebrating Thanksgiving??
Just wondering...

Thanksgiving Day also included a photo shoot so that we could get a nice picture to use for our family Christmas card. We managed that, but I was also hoping for some great photos to create a family collage wall in our home--something I've been desperately wanting to do since we moved in a year and a half ago. That was apparently waaaay too much to ask, as you'll see below!

Success--this was the pic for our Christmas card!

The Ridings used this one for their Christmas card. Another success!

 With Nana and Papa.

Jerry and Sally!

 Our guys. xo

Cousins and best friends!


 Trying for the perfect shot of the boys, with lots of onlookers.

 The sun is a bit too dappled and the lighting is off...

 Same story...

 The boys lose interest....big time.

Things get more interesting when you throw a pile of leaves on your big brothers...

 What happened to the lighting?
Why did we shift from warm to cool colors?
Maybe I should take a photography class?!?!
These will so not work for a wall collage!

But they do tell a story...these guys have a great time together!

Thanksgiving night we finished off by watching Elf, of course! Jerry, Melissa, and I (with other dabblers) also did a 500-piece puzzle. We were committed and didn't let the fact that others were leaving and/or going to bed distract us from our goal. We finished it and Melissa headed home with the remaining kiddos. What a great day!!!!

Friday morning the festivities continued as we went to see a movie (Big Hero 6), stopped by Bass Pro for some early Christmas festiveness, and then had lunch at Fuddruckers. It was a fun day! 

The guys willingly climbed on the Christmas Merry-Go-Round, 

but drew the line as to climbing onto Santa's lap. I pleaded for a 

photo of them just standing around Santa, but no go. :-(

Fuddrucker's. 

All too soon it was Saturday morning and Sally and Jerry were on their way home! We miss them, but are so glad they came to share Thanksgiving with us!