Minnesota Mama: Thanksgiving 2013

I enjoy so much about Thanksgiving: Time with family, lots of good food, and the loooong weekend! It was so great that Erik was able to take off both Wednesday and Friday so we could have a five day weekend up north. We were able to leave the cities late Wednesday morning and get to Frazee in time to unpack, and get to Grandma Bette's for a pizza party! It was a small group but a fun way to kick off the weekend. Our lucky little kids got lots of attention.

Lauren Ann and Nora Mae.

Thomas missed his nap so he was sooooo tired after a few minutes of fun over at Grandma Bette's. I tried to get a picture of Bette, Thomas and Tom (my dad's cousin) and this is the best we could do. He is not smiling but he is trying with all his might to keep his eyes open. :)

I think it's safe to say Thomas gets plenty of attention. It's like they've never seen a young boy eat pizza before.

Always great to have my dad around when we've got the kids at a dinner party. He is always able to distract Thomas or help Nora relax. I think he is pretty proud of his "baby whisperer" skills.

Thomas and Tanner chilling out watching fire truck videos on YouTube.

We finally put Thomas out of his misery and took him back to my parents for bed. On the way home he said "Thomas has sleepy eyes." It didn't take long to get him tucked in nice and cozy with Grandma.

Thursday was a fun, busy, but relaxing day. We started the day with family pictures at my parents. This was the second attempt at a Christmas card picture and I'm not sure it was successful. Pretty hard to get two babies to look in the same direction at the same time AND smile.
Anyway, our next stop was a quick visit at Grandma LaRaye's. We stopped to see Great Grandma Hazel who was visiting from Bismarck only for one day. We were there for maybe 30 minutes when it was time to head over to Uncle Bruce and Auntie Mary's for a beautiful Thanksgiving feast! It was so nice to see their new home and Thomas was so excited about all their "toys."
Here he is driving the gator.

Next up, a ride in the green John Deere tractor.

Time to take a break from the equipment to chase the chickens.

Finally, a ride on the four wheeler with Grandpa John.

Meanwhile, inside Nora is snuggling with Great Grandma Rosie and Great Grandpa Dennis.

My camera had just come in from outside so the lens was a little foggy.

After our afternoon with the Anderson's we headed to Grandma LaRaye's to feast with her and Great Grandma Hazel. They worked all day on a beautiful BBQ rib dinner. Unfortunately, my camera died before this gathering. It was another long day for the babies; both had only brief naps.

Friday morning we packed up and headed to Fargo to visit Auntie Lisa, Uncle Marcel and Great Grandma Janice. It didn't take long for Thomas to find all the toys. He and Grandma enjoyed a tea party downstairs while Nora soaked up all the attention upstairs.

Lisa is in to repurposing old furniture. I love this highchair she did!

So sweet. Nora and the GAL.

I wanted a four generations picture with Nora but Grandma Christine was napping with Thomas. We can try again at Christmas.

Thomas loves it when Daddy holds "both babies."

On Saturday Erik and I got to spend some time together, ALONE! He took me to the local department store, out for lunch, and even let me stop at the quilt shop! When the kids woke up from their nap we headed to the farm. Thomas had a pretty great time!