Much to be Thankful For

It is always so wonderful when my parents come to visit! They were able to stay for about a month and a half. We enjoyed two holidays and my Mom's birthday together. The girls love the extra attention and I love having grown ups to talk to on a regular basis. We had our own Thanksgiving dinner before Thanksgiving in order to include Mark, which was good because Maysie ended up sick and we stayed home from our extended family gathering on Thursday. My dad put in way too many hours helping us with the house and my mom never once complained about being the live-in childcare provider. We can't wait to see them again. And I'm sure their next visit will be more relaxing now that this ginormous project is finished!

 Working on puzzles with Papa Doodle. She is getting quite good at these complicated jigsaw puzzles.

 The veggie platter was a hit! I think the girls each ate their weight in carrots. I was starting to wonder at what point one should say "stop eating all those vegetables!"

 Snuggling with a couple of his girls <3

 We had an incredible hail storm that left it looking like it had snowed! I went out and scooped up some clean (un-muddy) buckets full of hail for the girls to play in on the patio because it was freezing and slippery and sloppy in the yard.

  Gingered pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting! The girls each decorated one for our Thanksgiving for three when we had to stay home on Thursday.

 This is the pumpkin that Elise picked out for Halloween, they had decorated them with silk flowers and stick on jewels, now it is pumpkin puree in my freezer so we can make more of the yummy cupcakes pictured above all year! It had a cute fairytale quality to it.

 We can't get over how cute this little Willow dog is. She almost looks like a little stuffed toy sometimes :) She is quite loved.

Granna made the girls these adorable, cozy jammies. Maysie's have little scotty dogs on them and Elise's have sheep. They love them!