Happy Thanksgiving!

I was on a walk yesterday through the neighborhood and past a very elderly man and his nurse. The elderly man beamed with joy as he saw youth pass his way. Not so much me(!!), but my little Xia Bliss. Babies have a way of putting smiles on everyone's face, young and old alike. Anyway, after exchanging hellos, the man said "Happy Thanksgiving". It made my day! One thing I love and dislike about Thanksgiving is that it's only one day. You can't start saying "Happy Thanksgiving" until the weekend before and the week of, then after Thanksgiving, it's onto "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays". Most Americans put their trees up the weekend of Thanksgiving and leave them up until/past New Years, making Christmas seem like a forever holiday and Thanksgiving seem like a done holiday the very next day. Thanksgiving starts off the holidays, but after turkey day, you don't hear Happy Thanksgiving. So for me to hear "Happy Thanksgiving" 4 days after the actual holiday made me beam! Let's be thankful year around and wish others "Happy Thanksgiving" blessings all the time!

Xia's first Thanksgiving went a little like this:

Bright and early, we participated in one of our city's 4 mile Turkey Trot! We want Xia to get use to an active family early on, so we pulled ourselves out of bed and onto the pavement! The trails were narrow and there was a lot of people, but Oscar and I managed to jog in between the walkers the whole way and it felt good! Xia slept during most of the run. It was a great event and we plan on doing it again next year and invite our families to join us.

Xia with Dad and Mom before the Trot began

We went to my parents home for the first meal. We had a great time being with the family:)
Xia didn't quite appreciate the turkey as I thought she would. She doesn't like (white) potatoes, but appreciated the mixed veggies and (of course) the sweet potatoes!

Yummy, let's try some of the Thanksgiving feast!

putting the turkey in her mouth...

...taking the turkey out of her mouth!

Then we headed off to spend time with Oscar's family. We are grateful to have both our families near by to spend time with at the holidays. It was there that we watched the Cowboys lose:(:(

We returned home and let Xia roam around the house! Xia didn't get much time with all the festivities to crawl around and play with her toys. So as tired as she was, she managed to get some good play time in before bath and bed time:). At home, we watched my dear Aggies beat t.u. I must say that I knew they would this year with the way they've been playing, but it was nice that the final score reflected my thoughts and wishes. What a good game! Go Aggies:)

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving with my family (minus one sister and one brother)

The sisters:
Amy Rose (#8), Laura (#2), me (#3), Kara (#4), and Rachel (#9)

8 out of the 10
Justin (#7), Laura (#2), Amy (#8), Me (#3), Jared (#6), Rachel (#9), Grant (#10), Kara (#4)

Xia Bliss loves her Uncle Grant!

Riding with Dad outside

The Offtermatt Family (2 missing #1 and #5)

The thorn in our side - capturing a family picture that
A) looks good
B) everyone likes how they look in it
C) everyone is actually looking at the camera and not talking in the picture
D) that my mom (the photo critic) agrees on/likes
and E) our wardrobe somewhat matches!!

Oscar snapped this one. There was no one else avl to take the picture, so he wasn't in the first set of pictures.
We need professional help!!:)