November 28, 2008 - Missouri or Bust

While we were in Illinois visiting for Halloween, my mom told me she was planning to visit Springfield, MO for Thanksgiving. She was going to be able to see all her sisters and Father. I thought about it for awhile and then talked to Kyle about possibly cutting our visit with Kristine's family a day short and driving to MO for a mini family reunion. He finally agreed to make the 6.5 hour trip on the day after Thanksgiving once Kristine decided to make the drive to us despite losing the day at the end of their visit.

The drive was bad, lights and lower speed limits were a drag, but when we got there, and saw Aunt Chris, Aunt Liz, Uncle Christopher, Connor, Grammy, Aunt Cassie and Aunt Amber, we were glad we made the hike. It was so fun to see my aunts and uncles after 15 years and to finally meet my only cousin, Connor for the first time. It was weird at first, but we all easily fell into sinc and loved visiting.

We made trip to the park in the back of Aunt Chris' house and even barrell-rolled down the hill and played some catch with a football in the freezing weather! The kids loved seeing Grammy the most, of course and got to play at the park with her for awhile despite the temperatures being in the 30's.

Earlier that day while hanging out around the house, Cassie found a hat with some fake dreadlocks attached to it, she wore them for the rest of the day! The movie Bolt was playing and the kids have been watching a preview for it on Kyle's IPhone, so we went to the local theatre and watched it on the big screen. The movie was kind of slow, but Ava and Jack enjoyed their booster seats and seeing a movie in the theatre for the first time while we all enjoyed the looks Cassie got with her "dreads!"

The movie was followed by dinner at a local cafeteria, an old family tradition when visiting Springfield. The food wasn't that great, but the company was fun! The evening was completed by a session of Fashion Feng Shui with Aunt Chris. I found out I was a Fire normally, but while I am pregnant I tend to lean towards the Earth! That all actually means something about the clothes that look good on me, but I can't remember it all.

The morning we left Ava woke us all up with the statement, "It's snowing!" and then she proceeded to make a snowman with Kyle about 8 inches tall. It was so pretty and fun to play in for a minute while I packed us up. Grammy saved the day with some gifts for the kids that were car friendly and then we took some last minute pictures with everyone.

It was a fun trip despite the drive, but I think it is one we will make again!

November 26, 2008 - Family Photoshoot

While Kristine and Co. were visiting, we convinced them to take a trip towards downtown and take some pictures in Highland Park at the same park Brian took some pictures of the family a couple of months earlier. Of course, our camera is not as good as a professional photographer's but we were happy with the results and even used a bunch of the pictures on the family Christmas card this year.

November 25, 2008 - It's A Girl

We have been meaning to tell Ava what the baby was going to be, a boy or a girl, for about a week now, but wanted to do something special and kept running out of time or Kyle kept working late! Finally, while Kristine and Co. were visiting I made a batch of fudge and drew a picture of our family with the addition of one more stick girl at the end of the group.

Ava saw the fudge and was not shocked at all, she simply "Already knew it was a girl!" She was pretty excited about the fudge, though, as you can see from the picture - that is the best smile she has ever given!

November 23, 2008 - Thanksgiving Week

Kristine and co. made the twelve hour drive from Kirksville, Mo to visit for a couple days over Thanksgiving. Other than hanging out in the gameroom with the kids and eating a ton of food, we didn't do a whole lot, but enjoyed every minute of their visit! The adults went out for a nice dinner at Carrabas one night and we all made smores in our little backyard firepit another night. Other than a huge Thanksgiving feast that Jack loved and Ava wanted nothing to do with, and even cried over, we had a family photo shoot and took tons of pictures in a park near downtown that we plan on using in our Christmas cards. It was so fun to see family and have them stay at our house!