Our Thanksgiving!

I can't even believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone! I looked forward to this year's Thanksgiving for a long time!! We had a blast and made every moment count; however, it FLEW by!
(Warning: This post is LONG!! It has a lot of pictures & words!! haha)

Last year and this year, my dad's side of the family has gotten together at my Aunt Becky  & Uncle Roger's house in Tennessee. Tennessee is just about my all time favorite place, so going back with Nehemiah & Ella is nothing short of amazing! We left on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and started our 13+ hour journey... which translates into a two day trip (A LOT of hours!) with a baby! We made it to Pearl, MS on Sunday night and spent the night! 

Ella getting a ride at the hotel!

Taking a break from driving at Chick-fil-a in Birmingham! Thank Goodness for Chick-fil-a's Play Place!! 

 

We made it to Tennessee on Monday afternoon and our fun started immediately! We didn't waste a single second during our week!! We jammed as much fun into  our days and nights as we could! 

 Tuesday: 

-Paw-Paw, Nehemiah, Ella, and I visited Aunt Becky at her school! I had so much fun reuniting with some sweet, sweet ladies that I had the privilege of knowing while I lived in Tennessee! So much fun seeing them again! I even got to see two PRECIOUS little girls, who I got to work with when they were in KINDERGARTEN, now they are in THIRD GRADE!! That's crazy!! They were absolutely precious and adorable, then and now!! It warmed my heart seeing them with Ella!! Love Chloe & Molly so much!

Pretty sure Ella thought she was a pre-schooler. She jumped RIGHT in line with the Pre-K when they passed us in the hall on their way to lunch. HILARIOUS seeing her walking down the hallway like she knew them or had a clue where they were going! haha

Grocery Shopping after our visit to school!

Tuesday was also Grammy's birthday, so we made her a fruit Turkey for dessert that evening! Yummy & Pretty!!

Playing in the leaves with Daddy!

We finally met Kade!!! We were in LOVE!!! Especially Ella!! Except when I  held him!! She was NOT a fan of that! haha How CUTE are they in their turkey shirts that Aunt Becky got them!?? The back has turkey feathers!! Adorable!

Ella stole a lot of kisses!! She loved Kade! Ella is 14 months and Kade is 2 months! They are almost exactly one year apart!! Which is too cool because, Kade's dad John, my first cousin, and I are just a little over one year apart! Too cool!!

Nehemiah holding Kade for the first time!

Wednesday: 

-Aunt Becky, Grammy, Ella, & I visited the Knoxville Zoo!! We had so much fun watching Ella enjoy the animals and play! She even made a new friend! OH and almost caught a bird! She is SO adventurous!! Then we enjoyed lunch at my favorite restaurant ever, Pei-Wei!!!!!!

Trying her best to catch a bird! She seriously, almost caught one! haha

Grammy, Ella, & I

Ella and her new friend, Willow! They enjoyed brushing the goats AND each other! So sweet! They were just a few days apart!!

Ella and Aunt Becky in the prarie dog tunnel!! I was SO glad Aunt Becky crawled through there with her!! My belly was not feeling that trip! haha

Mama & Ella at the Zoo!

Watching the silly (and FAST!) otters!

She LOVES to slide!

I'm sure Cora didn't appreciate being extra squished, but Ella LOVED it!

Wednesday afternoon we took family pictures!! I cannot wait to see the pictures the amazing photographer got!! 

Ella fed the chickens and checked for eggs every day!

Thursday (TURKEY DAY!):

-Aunt Becky, Paw-Paw, Katy, Tricia, Ella, and I walked/jogged the Turkey Trot!! It may have been early & cold, but this may have been my favorite activity of the whole week!!! We had SO much fun walking and laughing together!!! Let me tell you, you have to have a sense of humor when you are in LAST place of the FUN RUN! hahaha Seriously, great memories!! And Paw-Paw rocked it!!! It pushed Ella in her stroller and even took off running a couple times! I was impressed!!! It was a blast!! 

Before the Turkey Trot with Uncle Roger's Turkey feathers!

How PERFECT is this group selfie Katy took of us during the Turkey Trot!!?!?

Paw-Paw and Ella trotting!

Ella crossing the finish line! She was so wobbly but she had so much fun!

All of us with the turkey!

After we crossed the finish line!!

Ella and I with her medal!!

Aunt Becky & Paw-Paw with their medal's!

Paw-Paw, Ella, and I with the turkey!

So proud to call this man my Paw-Paw! I'm so thankful for his presence in mine, Nehemiah, and Ella's lives!

-Thursday afternoon we had Thanksgiving dinner and it was DELICIOUS!!! My cousin, Katy, painted a canvas for my Aunt Becky and she had it turned into a t-shirt! We never got a group picture of us all wearing the shirts, but we wore them while we ate dinner! They named them "Thanksmas," since we celebrated both Thanksgiving & Christmas!!

Just missing Aunt Becky! She was taking the picture!!

 

Ella & Kade with their cute little Thanksmas t-shirts on!

Last Thanksgiving (2013):

One of my all time favorite pictures!!!

Sweet baby girl! She was two months old!

This Thanksgiving (2014):
 

Sweet baby in her Turkey dress from Gigi!

She loved Aunt Becky's Christmas Tree!

Friday:
-Around 4:00 AM on Friday morning, Nehemiah, Paw-Paw, and Uncle Roger put a whole pig on over the fire to cook for dinner that night! Nehemiah had been looking forward to this event for weeks!!! I don't even know how he slept that night in anticipation of it!!!! 

Since the pig roast was a graduation celebration for Katy, she got to do the honors, and put the apple in the pig's mouth! 

Saturday:
-We woke up late, relaxed, ate lunch, and then took another round of pictures. Rodney wasn't able to be there on Wednesday when we took pictures, so we took a few more with him!!

Sweet Kade! He really did like me, despite the face in this picture!! He was SO sweet!

The BEST grandparents in the whole wide world!! I'm so thankful for them EVERYDAY, but especially at Thanksgiving, when they put on their adventure boots and travel to Tennessee to spend the week with us!!!!!! Love them SO much!

Not enough words to say how much this lady means to me! I am so thankful for her and our relationship! She is awesome! Ella loves her Aunt Becky too!! Love you so much Aunt Becky!!

Seriously, an absolutely fabulous week in Tennessee! Sometimes I think back on my time in Tennessee (when I lived there) and really wish to go back, but when I look at these two I KNOW, without a doubt, that I am right where I am supposed to be! Tennessee will always have a special place in my heart! And it's only 13 hours away! Not bad at all!

 

Sweet Story: 
On our way home on Sunday, I was driving, Ella was crying, so I asked Nehemiah to turn on Ella's music. He said, "Do you want to hear something crazy?" I was like "What are you talking about?" And all of a sudden he starts playing a cd in our cd player and it starts saying, "Can I just say something crazy? I LOVE crazy!" 
I flipped!!! He suprised me and Ella with the Frozen Soundtrack!! (And he totally planned that little skit!! He even had that song ready to play!) We sang the whole CD all the way through, I promise, 6 times on our way home! I already knew all the words, so this was my shining moment! haha 
Nehemiah is THE sweetest and most thoughtful man, EVER! He is always thinking of ways to make me smile! I'm so thankful for that quality in him!! It makes everyday such a surprise!! I love you Nehemiah! I've told you a million times, but thank you for taking me and Ella to Tennessee! You know how much it means to me and I love that you are so happy to do it! You are amazing!