Thanksgiving

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting much from Thanksgiving this year. The big get-together with the Aunts/Uncles/Cousins was the Sunday before, and then I figured it would just be the three of us for the actual holiday. I was gearing up for a low key, uninteresting, and possibly slightly depressing holiday in The Rental. But happily, Brandi (our niece on Jay's side) and David decided it might be fun to drive the 6 hours from Nebraska, so we had them and their two super great boys with us for the whole break. It was really cool to have them here and have enough time to really hang out. I, for one, ate way too much, stayed up way past my bedtime, and had just way too much fun.

Lincoln is an extrodinary, smart, handsome boy with a sweet and gentle heart. I love his enthusiasm. I love the way his eyes light up when he gets excited. I love his love of bowling :o). I loved watching he and M play together, especially when Brandi was setting off alkaseltzer rockets in the driveway! Lots of running and screaming involved. I'm looking forward to the two of them seeing more of each other and being excellent cousins (once removed, right? or something like that). Sweet Lincoln, I'm sorry you're allergic to Kali's kisses. Thank you for loving her, anyway.

Henry is quite possibly the best baby ever. He pretty much never fusses, and seems quite content most of the time. He's one of those aware babies, that you can just see is thinking about things. Really thinking about things. Probably mostly about that he's going to start walking... like quite possibly tomorrow! He's also dangerously cute. Dangerously. Yes, I believe I'm more than a bit smitten with little baby Louie.

Brandi and David, aside from being excellent house guests and very cool people, are also highly skilled players of Hoopla (Jay's game of choice for our evening entertainment). I learned much from them. I learned that if we really work together as a team, we can make a 15 minute game go into double overtime. And that fuzzy dice are smaller than soft, and bigger than seven. Thank you, David, for helping my husband fix the dishwasher door, and for all the great pictures and info. Thank you, Brandi, for showing me how to make tutus, for bringing Pin the Hat on the Turkey, and all the great conversation.

Meeting "the kinfolk" in Tulsa for dinner on Saturday was a must, and there were about 30 of us. It happens that Dan and Tina decided to drive up to stay with Uncle Louis and Aunt Cindy for Thanksgiving, so we met them at a bowling alley at noon and got to spend some extra time with them, which was lots of fun.

So, a fun, family-filled holiday, after all! And now I think we've had more company in our three and a half months at the rental than we had in a full year at any of our more permanent residents. I hope we can keep up the momentum after we move into our new place. Yes, that's right! We close on a house in mid-December. Woo-hoo! Bring on Christmas!