Lots to be Thankful for

As I mentioned, we headed over to Manchester for Thanksgiving this year.   We had a wonderful visit with the Grandparents, Ann and Ted, and especially the cousins.  The kiddos always seem to pick up right where they left off.  While we celebrated Isla's birthday on Wednesday, the main event of course was Thursday where there was tons of great food and wine, and of course kids running around.  It was a lovely, relaxing day.  Margot has been battling a bit of a cold and so she slept through dinner but for the better because after each nap she got a little bit better and I got to eat a meal without a kid sitting on my lap.  

Friday was more of the same, though we got out of the house for a bit to walk around in Chelsea.  We went to a few toy stores and out for lunch before heading back for some much needed naps.  It was the first nap Isla's taken in probably 6 months, and she passed out cold for three hours.  I wish I could bottle how it looked like she felt when she woke up.  Needless to say we were very happy about the naps because we had plans to take Grandma and Grandpa out for early birthday dinners that night.  It's not often we like to take our kids to nicer restaurants but this was a worthy exception and so of course we got them dolled up.  

Before we left, we took some pictures of the five cousins together.  I'm not sure which one I'll pick to frame, but I thought I'd put a few on here because when shown together they make me laugh as well. The prize for most photogenic child of mine goes to Sawyer - way to always be looking at the camera girl!

 Like this one a lot though Ben looks younger than he is because he's kneeling

 Not quite as many smiles here but this might be the best all-around

Margot kind of seems like she's drugged...I attribute this to the cold - she's a walking stuffed up nose commercial.  Still cute in purple though, now if only we could get that hair to really grow...

And then we decided to try some sitting on the fireplace.  Many of Mark's kid photos are on this fireplace so it seemed appropriate. Margot - look at your Mama...and take out that binky!!

 Ok, great!  Oops...Ben and Isla, just because I said Margot's name doesn't mean you have to look at her - keep your eyes on the camera!

Whichever one we end up choosing, I'm just glad that these kids all get along and enjoy spending time together. And with that, a big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting us.  I am sure they are both loving the quiet and missing the noise right now.  More pictures probably to come - I think I have a few on my phone from this weekend, and we started decorating for Christmas today.  I think we'll be all finished sometime this week and I want to try out some new (to me) settings on my camera to see how they turn out when taken with the tree as a backdrop.