Our Thanksgiving Eve

Much to our delight, Chad was home with us on Wednesday. We spent the morning putting up some of our Christmas. I love the the entire house to be decorated but it seems to take me longer and longer to pull it all out each year. I got the kids trees up in their rooms and the mantle done. I just didn't have time to get the big trees up because we had a date with this beautiful

Christmas Angel...

We went to Auburn to do a little shopping and soak in as much of our friends as we could. We won't get to see them for Christmas so we didn't take one minute for granted. We were so happy to be with them and get to spend time with Gracie Lyn. She has grown and changed so much. She is such a happy baby and being with her was a wonderful blessing.


Cooper and I sat in the back with Gracie Lyn between us. We were all over her the entire trip. Claudia was super happy to have Amy all to herself in the middle seat.


Obviously, they had lots of fun! Ryan captured it all while playing with my camera.

I wish I had taken some pictures during dinner or shopping but I was trying to just enjoy it all. On the way home, Claudia and Cooper were begging Amy and Ryan to come in for a little while. Amy said she wished she had Gracie's pajamas so she could give her a bath and be able to put her to bed when they got back to Ryan's parents house. Claudia got Chad's phone and sent me a text asking if we could please give her our presents since we had bought PJ's...anything to get more time with these three...and I feel exactly the same way!

Ryan was taking pictures so I had no idea he caught this one until I loaded them. I LOVE it. It is the perfect illustration of how these two feel about each other. They have been completely in love with each other since Claudia was 2 years old. There is no measure to how much we all miss them but my Claudia is especially broken hearted every time they have to leave us and this night was no exception.


This sweet girl loved her mailbox we gave her. She had so much fun playing. I cannot remember what Cooper had gotten upset about but he was trying to smile through his tears for his Ry Ry.

Cooper played so sweetly with Gracie Lyn. He is so crazy about her. Boy we wish we could see them more often...

One of my favorite things we did was shop for Gracie some walking shoes. She is getting close to those first steps and needed shoes to hit the road. I influenced Amy to buy Mary Jane t-strap Keds. It brought me much joy to see this angel in these shoes. It reminded me of Claudia when she was this age. We bought these in every single size and I can remember being so sad when we bought the very last size they came in.

Claudia and Ryan were having a sweet conversation when I took this picture.

Miss Priss got a bath and put on her new pajamas. She was so cute in those PJ's we picked out for her.

I love taking pictures of this angel. Her face full of delight makes me happy.

Claudia is an amazing helper for Gracie. I know she would really help Amy if they lived close to us. It would make her so happy to get to do that for Amy.

This Thanksgiving was even more special than normal because we got time with our special friends. We love you guys so much more than you know! We will miss them so much at Christmas. What a blessing to spend this day with you!