Thanksgiving 2014

Watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade is something of a tradition in my family. As a kid we'd celebrate Thanksgiving at my grandma's or an aunt's house. All the cousins would pile into the living room and we'd ooh and aah at the giant balloons.

This year we got to see it live and in person which sort of blew my mind. It was even cooler than I thought it would be. It was freezing cold but we walked from the start of the parade all the way down Central Park West which kept us from becoming total popsicles.

We saw Santa's Sleigh...

Spongebob Squarepants (he was still tied down in the staging area)...

But we saw him later in the parade, floating free!

Spiderman and Pikachu...

Snoopy...

Ronald McDonald...

Something from How to Train Your Dragon...

The nieces and nephew were loving it despite the cold.

And so was Thomas

These three haven't all been together in many moons and it was so fun to watch them interact and really be siblings again.

Santa! I know him!

These girls sure love their grandma! Riding the subway with 5 kids is quite a feat, I don't know how my sister-in-law does it on her own!

The brothers hauling the kids up the steps in the stroller.

And entertaining the kids while dinner cooked.

In total there were 14 adults and 8 children under the age of 7 at the house. The Sister Missionaries were there, a friend and classmate of Trevor's from Columbia Law School and a couple families from their ward plus my in-laws. It was very loud.

The turkeys were probably the most beautifully cooked birds I have ever seen! So golden and perfect!

After dinner we set up a little photo booth on the couch. Oh my goodness this is a goofy bunch!

Cameron can not sit still. Ever.

These kids seriously crack me up!

Sadie and Cameron with their favorite toys

NYC Thanksgiving Part 1

Our Thanksgiving weekend started with surprising my two oldest nieces at their school Thanksgiving parties. Camilla was so happy to see us! We ate in Madelynn's class and met some of her little friends. Went back to Camilla's class where Grandma and Grandpa were and then walked home in the slush. I absolutely love this city and these city girls!

Spent the afternoon goofing around before heading out to dinner for crêpes. The kids all sat at a big table with auntie Angie, auntie Sarah and uncle Thomas while Grandma, Grandpa and dad sat at a nearby table. The kids were so well mannered and ate up all their food. They were also covered from ear to ear in nutella and strawberries.

As we walked home from getting crêpes, Camilla and I got separated from everyone else. We were waiting and waiting on the corner a few blocks from their house, I was swinging her around and giggling. Then we realized we'd lost them, walked to the other end of the block and didn't see them. Camilla suggested we say a prayer so we found a quiet spot and I held her hands as she offered up the sweetest prayer that we would find the family and they'd find us, that we'd all be safe. There's no denying the sweet spirit as she called down the powers of heaven. Luckily we were one block from home so we decided to just go there, we ended up running into Thomas waiting for us. Our little prayer was heard.

Snuggled them in the couch, little Sadie on my lap. Read Amelia Bedilia and the book with no pictures. They laughed and laughed and made me read it twice.