JR was in Orlando the Wednesday through Friday of the week before Thanksgiving. While he was gone I secretly turned our apartment into a "Winter Wonderland." This was something that JR has be asking for since we moved down to Florida. There are glitter snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. And I even made a snowflake chandelier over the kitchen table. Oh, and the coolest part, is that you can turn on all the X-mas lights, the tree, and illuminate the entire Winter Wonderland with the flip of one switch. I couldn't wait to show it off to JR. However, we decided to leave for Searcy Friday night instead of waiting til Saturday morning. That meant that Gideon and I met JR at the car-return area of the airport and left from there. (It about killed me not to let him know what I'd been up to.)
We drove through the night and arrived to an empty house in Searcy at 9 am. My parents were celebrating my mom's birthday in Branson, so we had the place all to ourselves. We enjoyed having that time to reconnect as a family before we joined the extended family.
Sunday morning we headed down to Little Rock to meet up with Jenni Bills and her son, Samuel. After church at Pleasant Valley, we were invited to lunch with Jenni's family. We had a great time. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Nate-Dawg could've joined us.
While we were taking pictures of the boys, my mom called and wanted to know where we were. We'd left all our stuff out, and my mom was going frantic waiting for us to get back. So, we headed back to S-town.
Sunday afternoon was really the beginning of Thanksgiving Festivities. As soon as we got to my parent's house, Papa pulled out the puzzle and he and JR were off.
The beginning of the week was very relaxing. Papa and JR put together the puzzle, played raquetball, and went through the library my dad has in his office. JR and Papa were pretty much inseprable. And mom and I made a trip up to Batesville so I could get some fabric. I'm going to make up a bunch of baby slings and see if there's a market in some of the baby boutiques here in Tallahassee.
Wednesday, Claudia and "Almost-Uncle-Ryan" were finally able to join us. JR was so excited about LOTR RISK and I was excited about the singing Ryan and I had planned. And of course, crazieness is always present when you get the Stockstill girls together.
Thursday: We had the 7 of us that were at the house, the Mansurs (Uncle Jeff, Aunt Natacia, Julia, and Joel), Robin Miller, and Donna Jo Roberson (Robertson?). We feasted (way to go MOM!), had a sing-along, and general frivolity. The menfolk played RISK and the rest of us sat around watching the kids.
Friday: What a wonderful tradition we started this year! The men made us breakfast. And they out-did themselves. Thursday night the 3 of them went to the store and secreted the stash away. The women awoke and were kept from the kitchen. But a coffee bar had been set up in the living room. The food was fabulous and there were lovely cards on each of our plates.
My Aunt Lindee and cousin Sean traveled to and from Nashville on Friday to see all of us. And my grandparents came to see us as well. They were the last set of greats to meet Gideon.
Friday afternoon, JR, Gideon and I went over to Kim Hodges' mom's house. It had been over 4 years since I'd seen Kim in person. Johnathan was so great with Gideon. And Gideon loved playing with Johnathan and Kalleigh. Actually, I am in debt to Kim for having JR hold Kalleigh. Since Gideon's birth, JR has been campaigning for Gideon to be our only child. And I keep trying to convince him that Gideon needs a sibling. Well... while he was holding the precious little baby girl, he said, and I quote: We want to have a little girl next.
!!! He wants a little girl!!! So, thank you, Baby Kalleigh for winning my husbands heart. :)
We had a nice visit. Man! I wish Kim lived in Tallahassee. I think we'd have a blast raising our children in the same place.
Saturday:
In the morning I went to a little reunion that Ali Justus put together. There were a handful of girls from my high school class. It was really neat (and a little weird) seeing everyone again. I haven't talked to most of them since I left Searcy. But it was an additional place to show off the cuteness that is my son.
My mom offered to make her Kansas City Meatballs again, which was all the excuse JR needed to extend our stay until after dinner. So during the afternoon extra, Mom, Claudia and I worked on her wedding plans while the men played another round of RISK.
The entire week was filled with great family time and a healthy sprinkling of Hannah time. I also got to visit with Katie and Hannah's parents.
Gideon was in a great mood all week. He LOVED meeting everyone and charming their pants off. Almost-Uncle-Ryan kept Gideon laughing (which G is doing more and more independantly now). But I'll post later this week about all the changes that Gideon is going through... this is the Thanksgiving post. :)
Thanksgiving is always my favorite holiday.
Here's the slide-show. Enjoy!
--Daisha
2 comments:
what a wonderful week! you guys are so blessed. and gideon has to be the most handsome boy around. i can't help but see rachel sometimes when i see pictures of him. they are both such good looking kids! :)
It was really great to see you guys that week! Could you email me those pictures of Gideon and me? Even the funny ones (if you kept them). Thanks! :)
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