turkey day wrap-up...

pre-thanksgiving fun...

for a family night, we talked about blessings and each drew a picture of something we were thankful for.

 C is grateful for mountains...

L is grateful for his "ears" (his cochlear implants)...

T is grateful for the sun because "it gives oxygen to the earth"...

mom is grateful for temples that help us to be a forever family...

*Dad is grateful for missionary work and his family...but i don't know where his picture went!




turkey lunch at L's school...

fun table setting...

fall chap-stick and bookmarks for teacher/visiting teacher gifts...

 the first grade play at L's school...

our "thankful tree"...

we took a trip to the dallas arboretum before they took down their pumpkin display.  it was awesome and the brothers loved it.  i took about 120 pictures, here are just a "few...

this year we spent thanksgiving down in san antonio at jake's brother's house.  it's been so nice to have 4 out of 5 of jake's siblings (which includes all the cragun cousins) living in texas.  we've been able to see so much of each other this past year.  it can be a bit chaotic with that many kids running around, so we are glad that gma and gpa still decide to always join us in these get-togethers.  we also had jake's sister (who lives in DC) come down as well.  super fun!

 jake and uncle josh "helping" prepare dinner...

uncle chad actually helping prepare dinner...

the corn-huskers...

 keeping the boys busy before dinner...

 again, the men helping with dinner...

 the kids helping me make "fall crayons"...

 aunt tia and uncle sean looking over the black friday deals...

 the pilgrim hat place settings from last year...

 getting ready for the "cragun olympics" before dinner...

 explaining the rules for the cragun olympics...

 first event--the egg carry...

 practicing for the "father carry" event...

 the turkey trot...

 gpa doing some crowd control...

 the "father carry" event...

 a little "minute-to-win-it"...

 aunt jessie and G...

the awards ceremony...

time to eat!!...

 
 a little treatment for a bloody nose--trampoline incident...

gpa having a little down-time after dinner...

 jake conducting a large "family home evening" before bed (love his outfit of choice)...

 family home evening...

 cousin movie night...

 the adults were able to have a fun night out while aunt jessie babysit all 17 cousins.  we went to dinner at saltgrass and followed it up with a little competitive game of bowling.  my birthday was that weekend, so we had (my favorite) cheesecake to end the night...

 a little wedding-ring-spinning-contest while we waited for a bowling lane to open up...

it was great to be able to attend the baptism of our niece while we were there.  trying to get a family photo.
 almost...

almost...

finally...

this is the only picture from this day, but we also spent a great day at sea world with everyone...

  thank you so much to chad and molly for being wonderful (and brave) hosts!  it was so fantastic to spend this special time surrounded by family.  we are so grateful for all our blessings, we have more than we can count.  what a great weekend!