i could just gobble them up...

thanksgiving has come and gone.  i do believe it is once again my favorite holiday.  there is no stress over high-end purchases that max out a credit card bill.  there is no forgetting a last-minute gift.  there is no long line in the mall to perch  upon an old man in a red suit's lap.  there is simply "togetherness" with those we love.

i say that it is "once again" my favorite holiday because last year the holiday season might as well have not count.  i know there was a thanksgiving, an advent season, a christmas....yet i do not recall being present at any of them. pictures reflect my existence BUT i truly do not remember living and breathing in those moments one smidgen.

i know that my first turkey day as a mommy should have made me the most thankful lady in all the land.  however, my double D/E boobies were leaking, my daughter #2'd all over her turkey onesie and i was too stressed and tired to make a respectable thanksgiving plate for myself.  ya'll....2010 was the best year of my life but lordy, my life was topsy turvy to say the least.

this year, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...i could just soak it all in.  though i wish my babies were still "babies", it was so fun celebrating such an amazing holiday with both ben's family and my own.  we were surrounded by people that have helped us raise our little ones to be the precious, warm, exciting little turkeys that they are.  minnie and tully adored playing with all of their little family members and then soaked up the attention from the adults.  it was so fun to just sit and watch the "love".

every family has its drama.  every family has its crazies (we all have been the crazy one, too, by the way).  every family, though, has its own way of shaping the little ones.  for the family that is doing just for my babies....i am so very thankful.

on her way to eat turkey in style...

precious baby boy turkey...

turkey lady...

shooting hoops to work off his turkey belly...