Thanksgiving!

We left the house at about 8:20am on Wednesday morning. We'd hoped to be gone by 8am. 20 minutes late, not too bad considering we didn't pack up the truck the night before as I'd hoped! After a gas fill up and Starbucks, we were off to Oklahoma!
We stopped about a half dozen times on the way across interstate 40 including a stop just west of Little Rock at Mcdonalds for lunch and Liam feeding/changing. Leila and Liam were SO well behaved! Liam slept most of the time. Leila did math, colored, sang songs and took a nap. Thank goodness we have good road trip kiddos! haha
We got to my grandma's house just after 4pm.
My mom and Oz RV'd out from Arizona, my Aunt Tracy flew out and my Aunt Terri lives near my grandparents in OK. I haven't seen my Aunt Tracy since we left California four years ago. I saw my Grandma in July after Liam was born (she and my Aunt Terri drove out). My mom also came out shortly after Liam was born. I last saw Oz last Thanksgiving when we flew out to Arizona and haven't seen my Grandpa since he and my Grandma drove out a few years ago. So it was a mini-family reunion! :)
I REALLY wish my brother could have come though. But I know he had to work and it just wasn't possible. But it would have made it that much better!

Anyhoo, we all made it there safe and spent the first night ooing over Liam and how much Leila had grown, talking about a whole lot of nothing. :)
Thursday was Thanksgiving. We ate just after noon. My Uncle Bud (Terri's husband) deep fried the turkey and it was cajun-y...super yummy! Of course, we had all the usual fixin's...mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, rolls, veggies, cranberry salad, etc. Everything was delicious!!!!

Then we all wanted a nap, but didn't. haha! Stayed up and talked more, played with the kids (poor Leila was bored out of her mind!), goofed around. I learned a lot about dentistry (thank you Grandpa!)! haha Oz and my mom got some insight into a typical day in Leila's classroom by playing school with her - Grandma and Grandpa used all her stickers in the 'sticker center' though! haha

Friday we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Terri's house! My mom bought a TON of stuff for the kids and we all did a white elephant/dirty santa gift exchange. Josh ended up with a money jar (counts your change) and I ended up with a snuggi. I swore I'd never buy one...and I didn't. I got it as a gift. lol Josh busted it out as soon as we got home - it's a lot bigger than I expected! I still can't believe it's such a hot selling item! lol We had some finger foods, more turkey, etc.
Here is my mom opening her secret santa gift (and her mom, my grandma, next to her)

Here is my Grandma and Grandpa

And here is Terri and Bud

And here is my mom and Oz

 

And our family
(TERRIBLE photo!)

The highlight of that day was seeing Jasper...you know, our old dog...the goofy english springer spaniel! He looked soooo good and so very happy with all his fur-brothers and sister! He was so excited to see me (I think? I hope!)! He's put on some weight too! Yet another sign I  know he's happy! haha Plus, with as much as Aunt Terri loves her fur-babies, I was never worried about him! He loved on Leila a bit, still wouldn't go near Josh (surprise surprise) and stayed near me anytime I was outside. Well, until the dogs started barking at something else, then he'd shoot across the yard with the rest of them! haha

(I don't have any pictures of that yet...waiting on the photo disc from my mom)

Friday afternoon we headed toward Tulsa to go to Claire's and get Leila's ears pierced - something she'd wanted for a while but would only do if Grandma (my mom) took her. So, we did! She did great - after a little bit of crying.

On our way back to my Grandma & Grandpa's house from wherever we were, we stopped at my Aunt Terri's scrapbook store, Simply Scrapbooks. It was AWESOME!! So huge, so spacious, SO MUCH STUFF!! Next trip to OK will have AT LEAST one day devoted to the scrapbook store! haha

We spent Friday chatting it up, packing stuff up, getting ready to leave Saturday morning. I stayed up until nearly 1am talking with my Aunt Tracy though. Bad idea because I spent the entire drive fighting sleep! haha But it was nice talking with her! :)

Here is a blurry picture of the girls: Me, Tracy, Mom, Grandma, Terri, Leila (in front).

So, we left at about 8:30am Saturday morning - just after my mom and Oz did. We stopped for gas and a small bite to eat for the road (snacks and such) and headed for the 40. The drive home took SOOOO much longer! haha Probably just because I was EXHAUSTED!
We stopped just east of Little Rock for lunch, diaper change, Liam feeding, etc and made it home by 4:30pm. :)

All in all, a WONDERFUL trip visiting with family!
And we won't wait another 4 years to visit! :)

Next trip - Jasper, TN for Christmas!
Oi!