Thanksgiving 2011 and Ava's 6th Birthday

We had such a fantastic time this year hosting turkey day!  There were 26 of us total.  I was a little bit nervous - but my family is so easy and so much fun...and my aunts and mom did most of the cooking (thankfully!) - so the weekend honestly went off without a hitch!  We have so much to be thankful for this year - two new beautiful babies born to our family, engagements, college graduations - and most importantly - each other.  My parents, aunts and uncles started this Thanksgiving tradition as far back as I can remember.   All of us have always taken turns traveling (sometimes as much as 12 hours) to be together for Thanksgiving.  As we have gotten older and families have grown - it's been a little bit harder to coordinate - but I am so thankful we are all still making efforts to carry on the tradition.  I'm sure my grandparents Julia and Bob would be thrilled to see us all still getting together. In my book nothing...absolutely nothing...beats celebrating and time with family.  I am so thankful that my girls get to experience this and hope that one day they look back and cherish these Thanksgiving memories as I do now. 

We did a little bit of jumping...
 
A little bit of crawling...
 
Some arts and crafting...
 
Some Lincoln log building...
Some lights at the zoo...
 
Some homemade doughnut making (and apple cider drinking)...
Some turkey smoking (3 turkeys total this year!)...
 
Some lounging around...
 
Some bartending...
 
Some reading...
 
Some hat wearing...
 Some table setting...
 
Some turkey carving...
 
Some "patient" waiting...
 
And finally some eating...
 

After the feast - we celebrated our turkey baby's 6th birthday.  SIX?  REALLY?  Where has the time gone...seriously.  Seems like yesterday I was holding her and her fuzzy little head in my arms for the first time.  We love our Ava Bean - her heart, sweetness, determination, laugh, the way she looks out for her sisters...the list goes on and on.  I sometimes get sort of sad looking back at how quickly time has flown.  But really trying to focus on NOW and enjoying this stage of her life.  She fills our hearts to the brim with absolute pure joy. Happy birthday Bean!
 
Ava and her awesome Godmother Kacy.  
I love my cousin Kacy so much and love that Ava has her to look up to!

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