Thanks"living"

This past week has been such a beautiful week of "Thanksliving."  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have those special feelings you feel during the Thanksgiving season all year!  George and I felt so blessed to have our 25th grandchild born in October.  Since we had never seen her yet, we decided to spend our Thanksgiving in Dallas with our two sons and their families.  That way we could enjoy our time off from work with the two families there who we don't get to see as often as we'd like, and we'd get to meet Baby Kennedy for the first time, too!

The proud daddy!

She is the best little baby--you never hear her cry!

She is surely loved by her cousins, too.  Here she is with her cousin, Sydney.

Sydney is going to make such a great mother some day!

Now she's with her cousin, Gavin.

I loved seeing how she was dressed every day.

Riley doesn't seem to be affected by his new sister in any way.  In fact, he just sort of ignores her right now.  He is way too busy with all his activities.  He and I had a great time playing dinosaurs together.  He knew almost all of their real names!  Amazing!

We had a great time with all the grandkids.  Mason has grown up so much since we last saw him.  He has the sweetest smile and kindest heart.

Jaxon is always thinking sports!  He is a fantastic player no matter what sport he plays.

This is the new home that Cameron's family will be moving into about the second week of December (nice time to be moving, huh?).  They are having a big room with no windows and bead board around the bottom so that the boys can play basketball, soccer, or whatever sports they like in there and not destroy anything.  Great idea, huh?!

Legoland Discovery Center

Although Dallas doesn't have a Legoland amusement park, they have a discovery center which was so fun for the kids (and adults, too, just watching them having so much fun.)  This is all indoors.

This was so cool--the entire city of Dallas was re-produced using Legos!

Dallas Cowboys Stadium--even a retractable roof!

Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium

They, also, had a karaoke stage.  I should have recorded this.  Sydney and Jaxon really got into it!  I loved it!

Gavin loved the building table. 

Mason raced his car again and again on the downhill track. 

This was a really fun ride. 

Riley got to go on it with his mommy.

The kids got to stamp their hands with each area that they participated in.

The 4-D movie was fantastic with wind that blew, snow that fell, everything was so real!

The kids thought the cars that they could drive themselves were just the greatest!

Even Mason drove by himself and kept up with everyone else.

Gavin was a little too small for the cars, so he just watched from his daddy's shoulders.

The Legoland was a real hit, but soon everyone was hungry, so we stopped to eat.  

Next stop:

The Dallas Aquarium

How convenient!  It was right next door to the Legoland!

This was so fun--Cameron and Anne's family had a picture taken in front of a blackout screen--but since Cameron's shirt was the same color, his head turned out looking like it was suspended with no body underneath.  The kids laughed and laughed.  Notice the ball in Gavin's hands--like father, like son.  Cameron never went anyplace without carrying a ball, too!

The colors of the fish and the plant life were just breathtaking!

The stingrays always look like they're smiling.

There were bubbles inside the walls where the kids could get up close and personal with the marine life inside.

I think the eels were the biggest I've ever seen!  They were really creepy!

With Riley's fascination about dinosaurs, he figured this was a dinosaur skeleton.

Walking through the tube where you could see the fish all around and on top of you.

These fish were just like synchronized swimmers!  (A point off for swimmer number three for his tail not being low enough!  Hah!)

Beautiful jellyfish.

Seahorses--they are truly fascinating.

The kids loved the touching pool. 

Yes, the day was so much fun--even little Kennedy enjoyed it.  She just looked around and never made a peep!

Enjoying the Fall in the Park

There is a beautiful park right in the area where Craig and Cassie live, and where Cameron and Anne soon will live.  It has wonderful paths to walk on, picnic tables, and an area to play ball on.  So, we definitely had to hit that area!

This little Gavin can already dribble a ball with either hand--it is unbelievable!  But then, he loves it, and like I said, he is never without a ball in his hand!







Mason is starting basketball this year and is very excited about that.

Sydney has been on a volleyball team this year, so she had to show me some of the skills she has learned which were great!

And, of course, Jaxon is always shooting hoops.  He loves basketball and wants to play just like his dad did on the high school team!

Thanksgiving Day. 

Cassie's dad and mother came from Louisiana and her brother came from Utah where he is finishing up his college at Brigham Young.   It was so fun to be with them for these special days.

Kennedy with Grandpa Larry and Grandpa George.

Cassie had the table decorated so beautifully.

Lots of help in the kitchen--well, let's just say lots of fun in the kitchen!

The adult table and . . .

The kids' table

Grandpa George getting Kennedy to smile.

Kennedy with her daddy and mommy. 

Grandma Gloria with Kennedy.

Sydney is the best natured young lady I know about food.  She has celiac disease, so she can't eat anything with flour.  The day before Thanksgiving, she helped her mom make this chocolate cake which had no gluten in it whatsoever.  She was pretty proud of it and even shared it with Jaxon who could have had any dessert he wanted.

After the Thanksgiving meal, the next best part is the kicking back time!

This was really funny.  We saw the doors of the cabinet moving slightly and suddenly realized Mia, Craig and Cassie's cat, had gone inside the cabinet--probably to have some peaceful time of her own, too!

Another funny scene--Anne doing the Superman pose with Craig.

A tradition that Anne said her family has always done is to make gingerbread houses after the Thanksgiving dinner.  So, she had put together little graham cracker houses prior to coming so that they would be nicely dried.  (What a novel idea!  We used to glue them right before trying to decorate them and somebody's always ended up not holding together--usually Amy's!  Right, Amy?!)

The kids had such a great time decorating their own houses.

Yes, this made for lots of stickly little hands, but lots of smiles when they were finished.

Cassie wanted to wait until Thanksgiving Eve to turn the outdoor Christmas lights on.  I felt a little like Clark Griswold on "Christmas Vacation" when we made it a giant event in turning them on!  But, luckily, the lights all worked perfectly, so we had to spend a little time outdoors on such a beautiful evening.

 The Three Musketeers--they all go to school together and are literally brothers!



 (I made Gavin lay the ball down for this picture.  Hah!)

But, soon he was playing ball with his dad again.

 Six of our twenty-five grandkids.  Aren't grandkids great?!

 Grandpa George and Grandma Laura's favorite picture--

the grandkids' favorite picture.  

 Cassie's family:  Dad; Cassie holding Kennedy; Craig; Cassie's brother, Trevor, holding Riley; and Mom

 Grandpa Larry and Grandma Gloria; Grandma Laura and Grandpa George with Craig and Cassie's two children.

 The two grandmas.

 Three generations of beautiful women!
 
As you can see, we had a fantastic few days leading up to Thanksgiving, as well as Thanksgiving Day itself.  Thanks, Cameron and Anne, and Craig and Cassie for such a wonderful Thanks "living" week!