Thanksgiving- Part 3

We don't make it to Illinois as much anymore now that we live so far away so we try to make it a point to see our extended family that live in Peoria while we are there. Marc's grandparents always enjoy seeing him. I can tell they are so proud of him and love him so much. :) It is wonderful as well to get to introduce them to their great grandchildren. They loved meeting Hailey this year and seeing how much Eli had changed from last year.

Our first stop was Grandpa and Grandma Carrigan's house. We were glad to see several aunts. uncles, and cousins who were there as well. They are always so sweet to get a present for Eli which kept him pretty occupied while everyone was enjoying passing Hailey around. I actually forgot my camera so I had to borrow these pictures from Marc's aunt and from his parents.

Next, we went to see Marc's Aunt Kathy and her friend, Beverly, who has been very sick in the past few months. It was great to see Beverly getting around better. I think she really enjoyed holding Hailey. Eli enjoyed his race track from Aunt Kathy and Hailey got her first baby doll, a Cabbage Patch Kid named Marley Hazel. :)

Then, our final stop was to see Grandma Kelly who has also been ill in recent months. The last time we saw her was Christmas last year and she was still living in her own apartment. This year she is in a nursing home which I know is a big change for her. Marc and I both thought she looked well for all that she has recently been through. She soaked in some Hailey time as well.

Eli was VERY ready to go at this point. He had only a very short nap in the car on the way to Peoria and was tired of all the car stops and pictures!

Then, he found Grandma's fancy chair and enjoyed pushing the buttons to make it recline. Ha!

We really enjoyed seeing everyone and do hope to get back to Illinois before another year passes. :)

Thanksgiving- Part 2

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Marc's sister and brother-in-law's house for dinner. They have a little girl who is 15 months and a little boy who is 3. Eli is in between those two in age so the house was full of busy little bodies that night. :)

Angie had gotten the kids all matching pajamas so we could get them in some pictures together. It is quite challenging to get four kids to look at the camera at the same time! Marc and I stayed pretty close by Eli during the pictures since we let him hold Hailey. Sometimes he does really well and other times he gets tired of her and tries to push her off his lap. We have taught him to say "all done" when he wants us to take her back so that we at least have some warning. :)

Since we will not be in Illinois on Christmas this year, Eli opened up his presents from Marc's parents early. He also enjoyed getting to open up Hailey's gifts! It was so fun seeing what a difference a year makes. Last year he didn't even want to pull the paper off, but this year he was so excited to open up his gifts and to pull them out of the box to play with.

I think Marc will get plenty of practice putting things together this holiday. It wouldn't seem like Christmas if the dad didn't have to assemble something for his child. :)

Well, I still have one more day of our trip pictures to post tomorrow and then I am going to move on to my sister's wedding pictures!

Thanksgiving- Part 1

So, I decided I had too many pictures to put them all into one post so I am going to separate them into a few posts. Marc was fortunate to get a whole week off over Thanksgiving because it overlapped November and December which allowed him to take more time off. Since we have been married we have alternated holidays with our families and this was our year to be with his family for Thanksgiving. We had a great time! Eli is so friendly and warms up to most anyone within a few minutes. I think he is a joy for everyone to be around. It was also fun for Marc's siblings to get to meet Hailey since they weren't able to come see us when she was born. She spent a lot of time getting held and she loved it. :)

It was pretty cold while we were there. Illinois has cold winters! We brought Eli's coat with us but didn't have a hat for him so Marc shared his and he loved wearing it. I think he would wear anything I asked him to if it meant he was going to get a few minutes outside. :)

New houses are always fun for Eli because he gets to explore and in the case of his grandparents houses, play with new toys. :) Eli spent so much time crawling up and down Mama Reenie and Papa's stairs. He loved poking his head through the rails and looking at everyone down below. His Papa taught him how to slide down the stairs backwards which he loves and he can now go down the stairs at our house this way without me worrying about him falling.

The last time Eli met his cousins he was only 8 months old and he could have cared less about them but this time he got really excited and he still says their names when I show him pictures. It was also a challenge getting all the kids to share their toys, but I think that is pretty typical for this age. :)

On Thanksgiving we had turkey and all the fixins' and Eli didn't touch a thing. He wasn't feeling so great that day so he ended up eating a yogurt for his dinner! He did however enjoy the leftovers the next day when he was feeling better. It was so nice to spend time with everyone relaxing, eating great food, and watching football. I am thankful that I married into a great family and always enjoy the time we spend with them.

I am going to try to post some more pictures every day this week so check back soon!

Home Again

I have the washer and dryer both full trying to catch up on laundry from our two weeks away from home. We were in Illinois for a week over Thanksgiving, then home for one day before we were on the road again heading to Arkansas. We spent this past weekend there for my sister's wedding. The kids did so well with all the traveling. I am not sure how we would have handled the 10 hr. drive to Illinois (which became more like 12 hrs. with stops!) with screaming babies. :) I have SO many pictures that I am sorting through and love them all. Whatever did we do before digital cameras? It is so great being able to capture memories and see them right away. Eli is sitting here right now looking through pictures with me and loves to point out himself in all the pictures. Ha! I hope to get some pictures up later tonight from Thanksgiving and then will put up my sister's wedding later on this week. Stay tuned!