Thanksgiving, Nathan's Birthday & the Chiefs Game!

With Noah being in school, we have a few more Thanksgiving celebrations added to our normal routine. We had Noah's Thanksgiving Feast at school the Friday before the holiday. Since I volunteer on Fridays I was there anyway and had volunteered to help out with the other classes. Noah looked so cute dressed as a little Indian :) The food was really good! Noah is a very picky eater so he brought his lunch and I got a tray and we shared. I was trying to get Noah to try stuff he didn't like (or at least thought he didn't like) so I was even trying stuff I didn't like - and for the record, I still don't like yams! We had a great time visiting and we got to sit with his best friend Kadience :)

Over the weekend we went and visited with our friends at deer camp and had our family pictures taken. Deer camp was fun - the kids liked the cabin and it was nice to see people we hadn't seen in a while. They had an original Nintendo and Noah thought it was so cool :) Family pictures went, well, interesting. I have been prepping Ryan for this since she cried through the last ones. We let her pick out a toy and told her she could open it if she smiled for pictures. Our session was only 10 minutes, so it wasn't too long. Well, she smiled for the first picture and she was done! She sat in the grass and cried as we took the rest of our pictures. So, her toy has been sitting on the counter for her to see and not get to play with - maybe that will help her be more cooperative next time. I highly doubt it though, she is very headstrong. The photographer said she got some good ones so I am hoping she was able to capture her not looking so evil ;)

Playing Nintendo at Deer Camp

Monday was Nathan's birthday - we got him a new speaker for his iphone and I surprised him with tickets to the Kansas City Chiefs game that weekend with 11 of our friends! We let him pick the dinner spot so we went to Chili's - you just can't beat Chili's queso :)

Kansas City Chiefs tickets!

On Tuesday, Noah's class were pilgrims and hosted another class of Indians - it was so cute. When the Indians came in they all said "Welcome Indians" :) I was so happy I was able to be there and help with the party.  I also made mac-n-cheese for the party and it was edible!

Noah was out of school Wednesday so I took off work and kept Ryan out of daycare and we decorated for Christmas all day, since I was going to be out of town for the Chiefs game after Thanksgiving. We had a great day decorating and getting the house ready for our tree. We always get a real tree. I cannot get enough of how they smell and I love that each year the tree is a little different. So, when Nathan got off work we went and picked out a tree - we found the perfect one on our first try :) Then, we had to go back to Chili's for dinner - we were just too close to not stop by again ;) We got the tree up when we got home so the limbs could relax and settle before we decorated on Friday.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and it was a little different this year. My mom was on vacation in Mexico and Nathan's grandma wasn't feeling well and wanted us to all go out to eat. So, we didn't have our usual stops this year. We went to St. Mary's Church in Altus with Nathan's family for lunch. The food was great! I was not a fan of the quilt auction going on while we were eating, but we were sitting really close to the auction and the speaker was loud - so Ryan kept saying it hurt her ears. From there we went to my grandmas to visit and to draw names for our Christmas drawing. Then I went to meet my dad to shop and Nathan went to visit at his grandmas with the kids. My Thanksgiving with my dad is always celebrated by shopping with him. Yes, we "Black Friday" shop. Yes, we even do it on Thursday if that is when the sale is. It is our thing, we love to go! No, we don't fight people for $10 off a tv. We have never fought or even seen any really. Just because some people are crazy does not mean that all are. We usually only go to Walmart and this was the easiest year yet. We didn't have to wait in line at all, the isles were extra wide so we were able to push carts with no problem. We were checked out and to the car with everything on our lists in 30 minutes - that is all of dad's 10 grandkids bought for! Plus, we have so much fun and laugh the whole time! I am going to miss this when my dad is gone and I love the memories we are making!

Ryan's adorable shirt her Meme made her :)

Friday we decorated the tree. The kids were so excited when they woke up - Noah said "it is tree day, woohoo!" I set them out each a pile of decorations and let them put them on and I did the rest. I had to move several ornaments off the very end of the limbs or take a few off the same limb as eachother, but they really did a good job overall. I would just watch them decorate and help eachother and it was so sweet. After we decorated the tree, we all went to see the Good Dinosaur - such a good movie! Noah is an emotional kid, so he cried during the happy ending, but the lesson was awesome! Ryan cried too and I asked her why she was crying because she didn't understand the movie well enough to know it was sad and she said "I just want to pretend cry" :) When we left the movies Noah said "this was just the best day - first we decorated the tree and then we got to go to the movies! I love today!" It really was a great day!

Nathan and I left early the next morning for Kansas City to meet up with friends for a night out before the game on Sunday. We stopped on the way and did some Santa shopping too. We had the best time in the car - we sang Christmas Carols, talked about life, and laughed a lot. We got to our friends house just in time to change and head out to dinner. The Collins have hosted us twice now and they are the best hosts - they have a beautiful home and drive us around everywhere! We had dinner at Jacks Stack and even though we had a 2 hour wait, the food was worth it. It was amazing! We then went to a bar called Whiskey Tango for a few drinks before bed. The next morning it was not looking great weather-wise for the game. We basically had to come to the realization it was going to rain and be cold so we could complain or just make the most of it. So, we layered up and bought ponchos and headed out! We tailgated and headed into the game. It was 34 degrees and rained/drizzled the entire time - but we were not cold at all! I guess the 3 pair of pants and 4 shirts I had on were doing their job! The poncho helped keep my mainly dry also. We ended up leaving a little before the 4th quarter and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the rest of the game. Our toes were starting to get cold then so we were ready to go. The game was still awesome, even in the rain! We can't wait to go back when the weather is better!

The only picture I took at dinner - we were sad our friend Darci didn't make it to dinner with us!

Our seats were awesome!

Our awesome hosts The Collins!

We were happy to get home to the kids! Every time we go on a trip without them we talk about them the entire time :) Now, we are ready to start our holiday celebrations! We have Christmas parties or activities every weekend until January! Merry Christmas Ya'll!