Thanksgiving 2013

This year we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house :) It was so much fun to have ALL the family together under one roof to celebrate this special day. We finally got to use our new dining room table that we bought last year and it was full to capacity! We ended up with about 20 people, I think, and it was a day full of great food, funny stories, and lots of love! 

Eli and Addi LOVED being able to play together. 

We got to meet sweet, Finley. She's Jeff's baby and is so sweet!

Jim, Jordan, Addi, and GraceAnn got to come in for Thanksgiving and it was so good to see them. Since they moved to Ohio we haven't seen them that often. It was great getting to catch up with them!

GraceAnn is the happiest baby ever.

My mom and dad also drove in for the day the spend Thanksgiving with us (just another plus to having them closer!). Josh, Andrea, and Tinsley went to Tennessee to spend Thanksgiving with Andrea's family, so I invited Mom and Dad to spend Thanksgiving at our house. Eli was thrilled to have Pop at his house again!

After our delicious lunch, we rolled ourselves outside where I convinced Josh to take just a few family pictures. He was a good sport about it :)

The mandatory silly picture :)

Sweet, precious boy!

After lunch and dessert, my parents had to leave to go back home. Eli did not want to say good-bye at all, but we knew we'd get to see Grammy and Pop again really soon. One of my most favorite things is how my Dad always prays for Eli before we part ways. It's one of those things that just makes my heart smile :)

We came back inside and I FINALLY got the chance to sit down. I was able to get some time with sweet Finley and she was the sweetest little cuddle bug ever. 

Josh's Aunt Lisa and Uncle David also came in to spend Thanksgiving with our family and Eli LOVED having them at our house. They read books, looked at photos, and had lots of fun just being together. We only get to see them about 2-3 times a year, so we try to make the most of our time. Eli loves them both so much. Hopefully, we'll get to visit them at their new house in Georgia very soon! 

Dave was a little tired from the day's festivities.

It was the perfect Thanksgiving. I'm so glad that I was able to spend it with so many people I love and cherish. I'm also thankful to know that for me Thanksgiving doesn't just come around one time every year. Every day can and should be Thanksgiving for us. My life is so richly blessed and I have only God to thank for all of it. It's my prayer that I always have a thankful heart when I look at my life and I also pray for many opportunities for me to be a blessing to others. Happy Thanksgiving!