a thanksgiving to remember

we had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. we were able to travel to tulsa to be with my side of the family. we stayed at my sister's home with her family. my whole side of the family was able to be with us. my mom and dad followed us on the 9 hour drive, which went very well. jacob traveled beautifully this time. snacks and entertainment seemed to do the trick and a long 3 hour nap helped too.

we got into town wednesday evening about dinner time and my brother-in-law tony had dinner on the grill waiting on us. what a treat that was!!! my brother brian got in town with his family thursday morning. we all stayed at connie's house the whole time. she and tony were wonderful hosts for all of us. we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner prepared by connie and tony and tony's parents. everything was so delicious. it was such a wonderful time having my whole entire family all together at one time.

the next day we all hung out and enjoyed the day together eating left overs all day. one of the best things about staying at the place where you eat Thanksgiving dinner is eating leftovers for the next few days. we played a lot of games together and enjoyed each other's company. the weather was so beautiful! we enjoyed being outside much of the time.  the guys had a few badminton tournaments and the kids jumped on the trampoline and played baseball, while us girls enjoyed watching the fun and talking.

my nephews, justin and jared
















 


                                                                 

                                     
                         

                              

                           
my brother brian, aaron, and my brother in law tony







pictured here left to right: my niece jessica, connie's oldest son's wife, my mom, and my sister connie

that evening most of us all packed up and went to rhema to see the Christmas lights. twenty years ago, i moved to tulsa to go to rhema bible training center and i was able to see the wonderful lights that they display every year. but i did not remember them ever being so spectacular. i have a lot of memories on the grounds of rhema because i went to school there for two years but it is also the place that aaron proposed. i was able to show the kids where their daddy asked me to marry him and it was so beautifully decorated. i think they were just a little impressed.

saturday, we celebrated my niece victoria's birthday at incredible pizza. we ate until we were stuffed and played together for hours.

(my dad, briona my brother's oldest daughter, brayden my brother's son, jared my sister's son, rachel, tony, connie, brian, brooklyn my brother's youngest daughter, holly my brother's wife, my mom, josiah, kristen, my sister's oldest daughter, amanda, victoria my sister's youngest daughter and the birthday girl, olivia, and aaron.)

 our waitress took this shot so that jacob and i could sneak in this pic but we lost sight of rachel and connie.


we had a wonderful time together for several days. we played and played  the whole time.  we ended the time together with an all family game of hide and seek. we turned all of the lights out in the house, set a timer while someone counted, then we all hid while the person seeking looked for us all until the timer went off. the ones that were not found got a point. the first one found was "it" for the next round. after ten times of seeking, the one with the most points won. we all had a blast! connie and tony and i all tied as the winners. i guess we still know how to play this game better than our kids. we have had a lot of practice in our lifetime. :)

it was a wonderful time with our family! we had a thanksgiving to remember!