Thanksgiving 2013

Like last year, we traveled to California for Thanksgiving. We had three full days to pack in as much family time as possible. I think it was a success. 

When we got into town (after a really long drive), Maggie was a little timid. Henry remembers everyone (and even if he didn't--he thinks everyone is his friend) and ran off to play with cousins. We love spending time with the Holmes family. There are lots of cousins (a total of eleven--ages six and under--six of which live in California), not to mention some pretty fun aunts and uncles. After Maggie warmed up, it was so fun watching Maggie with her cousins. She adored Hannah and followed her around and did everything she did. 

The first full day we had a family gathering for Maggie's birthday. She was spoiled with a lot of gifts, which provided good times for all the kids and grandma. 

Grandma Sheryl is a good sport and is so good about playing with her grandchildren.

They all adore her.

The next day was Thanksgiving with the Holmes clan, which totals 100 people as of this month. Grandpa & Grandma Holmes keep a thorough count of everyone in their family. They have a gigantic list of everyone in their family with dates listed of birthdays for their children and grandchildren and marriage dates for those of us who join their family with a marriage. There were about 50 people at dinner this year and a lot of new faces (i.e. cousins who got married). We had a great time eating and talking while the kids played and played and played. I must have played hard, too, because I went to bed with the kids at 8:30 PM (technically 10:30 PM Texas time).

Our last day with the family, we all went to see the movie Frozen and everyone loved it. Maggie actually watched half of the movie (and slept through the other half) on Grandma's lap. Henry sat on my lap throughout the movie. "What's happening????" he kept asking me. "Why?" was his response when I gave him an answer. After the movie, the cousins were playing together saying, "Your hair is turning white!"

We were on the road shortly after with two very sleep-deprived children. Whenever we visit family and our children get to play with cousins, we remember how nice it would be if we could always have the cousins together all the time. So we cherish the time we do spend together and are grateful for our family ties. And my favorite thing about getting together with family is watching grandparents interact with my children. I'm pretty sure I say this all the time, but there is nothing quite like the bonds between grandparent and grandchild.