our thanksgiving weekend

We are back home after spending our Thanksgiving holiday in Abilene with my family this year. On Wednesday, Ashley got to leave work a little earlier than we'd expected, so we loaded up our vehicle & headed out of town a little ahead of schedule ... we had a great trip driving into Abilene ... then enjoyed our evening visiting with my parents, playing with Kendall who loooooooved being with them, going to the grocery store with Grams (my mom), visiting MawMaw (my grandmother) and settling in for a long weekend. Thanksgiving day, Ash woke up with a fever & the stomach virus (yuck!) ... poor guy! He stayed in bed at my parents' house while the rest of us spent the day at MawMaw's. We had a very small gathering this year ... which was probably a good thing, since by that evening, I was sick with the stomach virus, and the next day my dad got it. So, we really didn't take very many pictures of our 4 days together ... but we did enjoy a very low-key time together, resting a bit, doing a little shopping (which for the Byers family is unbelievable!), watching a few new movies and just being together.

Here's a few pictures from Thanksgiving Day ...



MawMaw with her beautifully decorated dinning table



Kendall & I arriving at MawMaw's ... all bundled up.  A cold front blew in
overnight, so it went from 83 on Wednesday to the low 40's on Thursday!



MawMaw and Mom



Dad and Aunt Shanny (she's my great-aunt ... MawMaw's sister-in-law)



me with MawMaw



Kendall decided it was nap time just as lunch was ready at 11:30am, so she napped while we ate ... and she ate later ...

Kendall's plate for her Thanksgiving meal ...
This "Little Bo Peep" dish has now been used by 4 generations! 
This was my MawMaw's plate as a baby, then my Mom used it at Ma's
(MawMaw's mom) all the time, then I used it at MawMaw's when I was
a baby (which I was reminded of this weekend), and on Thanksgiving,
Kendall used it for the 1st time.  I looooove things like this! 

I was quite nervous for Kendall to use this very-breakable, priceless dish, especially since she normally doesn't use a plate or bowl, but if she does, it is definitely plastic! I was so worried she was going to toss it off the high chair, as she has done in the past with her sippy cups, from time to time. But she did really good ... and the plate stayed in one piece!

 

Kendall eating her 1st Thanksgiving meal ...
which for the record, she did not enjoy ... not one
thing ... all the food was great, but she is soooo
difficult to feed lately & this weekend she really
didn't eat hardly anything, unfortunately.
Hopefully we'll have a better outcome next year!

(Apparently this is the only picture of Kendall in her outfit on Thanksgiving ... I had a different dress picked out for her, but it was too short on her (especially with it being so cold out), so we went with option #2 ... her brown corduroy dress, which is short sleeved, so I had to add a long sleeve shirt under it ... with some light pink tights & super cute winter boots.  I thought I'd brought enough clothing options for her, but apparently I could have brought more!  It's so hard to pack for every possible situation!  Regardless, in all the sickness & everything else on Thanksgiving, I didn't even get a good picture of her ... or her & I, for that matter ... sad.)

We enjoyed our day at MawMaw's, but as we left that evening, I had a fever & the stomach virus.  My parents took total care of Kendall for Ash & I, as neither one of us could do anything but go to bed.

 

Black Friday 2010 ... in the Byers' family, it is tradition to get a newspaper on Thanksgiving so we can check out all the good deals, get our shopping-game-plan together, wake up early (and sometimes SUPER early) on Friday morning and shop!  Ash had been checking out the websites for early store ads, so we'd even been planning this year's shopping event earlier!  This year was a little different ... everyone slept in ... I did not get to participate in the thrill of Black Friday shopping, since I was still sick ... Ash was much better by the morning, so he, my mom, MawMaw & Kendall went shopping for a few hours.  I know that sounds odd, but he was the one that needed some items (ie new dress-shirts) ... and do some Christmas shopping for some people on our list ... so I was really thankful that he was able to do that ... and he picked out some great shirts for himself & gifts for the others!   

Saturday we spent the day at my parents' ... just resting, playing with Kendall & watched Toy Story 3 & Iron Man 2 (after Kendall went to bed for the night).  My mom took these pictures of Kendall & Pops while we were watching Toy Story 3 ... this girl loooooves her Pops and looooved sitting in his lap or being held by him ... she is such a Daddy's/ Grandfathers' girl (to both of her grandfathers).  While we were watching Toy Story 3, she sat in his lap several times ... she enjoyed snuggling in his big brown leather chair with him.  Each time my mom would try to take their picture together, Kendall would sit up, look at the camera and smile ... she can be such a ham!

Sunday, after we had all gotten ready for church, Kendall seemed like she was getting sick next.  We decided to leave Abilene earlier than we'd planned ... so we changed into comfy clothes, loaded up everything & headed out.  We took these pictures of Kendall & her Grams just before we left ... a few smiles were captured during a few times of "pat-a-cake" ... which explains some of Kendall's hand motions, which were also captured here.  She really loooooved being her Grams ... and helping Grams do whatever she was doing at the time.  I am so thankful that Kendall has 2 wonderful sets of grandparents ... she adores all 4 of them, loves all of their attention and spending time with them ... and I know she will learn many important lessons from each of them!

Before we left, Mom wanted me to open my birthday card & present from them ... she'd been trying to celebrate my birthday all weekend she said, but someone or another was sick the whole time, so the timing was never right.  We were going to do it at lunch today, but then we decided we were going home early.  I got 2 bracelets I'd picked out from Premier, from my parents ... and I love them!  MawMaw came over too ... with a birthday present ... a set of 8 books called "My Bible Story Library".  I looooooove books and will cherish these!  My Grandfather had purchased these before he died (12 years ago) and MawMaw had just recently found these and wanted to give them to us.  We will read these often ... and before long, Kendall will be reading these to us!  I will always think of them when reading these ... there are lots of things that remind me of my grandparents.  I am so thankful for them and I miss my Grandfather soooo very much ... I sooooo wish he could have met & known Ashley ... I know he would have loved him & loved having him in our family ... and I can only even imagine how happy he would have been having Kendall as his 1st great-granddaughter ... just as MawMaw does!  I am so thankful for all the memories that I have of & with my grandparents ... I'm thankful for the time with MawMaw and the memories that we're still making ... and I'm thankful Kendall is making so many great memories with her grandparents too! 



MawMaw & Kendall holding our new
Bible Stories to read

We had a great drive home, much to our happy surprise!  Kendall slept the entire 2hrs 45min drive ... and the long nap must have done her some good! She woke up as a new refreshed girl ... in the best of moods ... and we have enjoyed our evening together at home getting unpacked, playing together & running a few errands!

We just have soooo much to be thankful for!  We hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!  We pray that God continues to shower you with His countless blessings!