the holiday weekend

We're still coasting on the tails of the Thanksgiving holiday, but now with one foot into the Christmas season.  And the sun is out, and the weather is unseasonably fine, and both young families are here, and Ed is leaving behind whatever virus snagged him, and I seem to have sailed through with the mildest case, so that luck has been our partner for sure this Thanksgiving weekend. Indeed, these few days are really at the top of the heap of memorable family weekends. 

Let me run through this day using few words. Not because it's late and I'm tired (though that certainly is true), but because so much was exactly right for us today and when that happens, you feel a little humble, knowing that this wasn't the case for everyone, and, too, you lack the words to express again and again your deep gratitude for all the warmth and good feeling that comes your way when you spend extended periods of time with your kids and their families.

So, quietly, this was my beautiful day:

Morning, with the cats and cheepers.

Breakfast, still eating up Thanksgiving Day leftovers with Ed ...

And then I meet up with the two young families at Clasen's, for the gingerbread treats. (We thought, too, we'd let the kids explore the bakery's giant gingerbread house, but for some reason they're holding off on putting it up this year. "We'll have it in a couple of weeks" -- they tell us.)

(happy with the cookies)

(our youngest one was born in mid December so this is in fact her first trip to Clasen's)

("Can we please get some cake?" "Go ask your father." They do just that.)

(cookies everywhere!)

(yep -- cookies everywhere! she already has her favorites...)

For lunch, the kids beg to go to Culver's (just next door). For the burgers and chicken fingers and fries and custard. I feel that after Thanksgiving, I can well put off eating until maybe Christmas, or New Years, so I leave them there...

... and go to a local coffee shop for a nice rich espresso with milk. Then I scoot over to my daughter's house to start in on the tree. Lights need to go up. It's a tedious job and it's best done before all the young ones hit the tree trimming scene.

Okay, lights done. The young families return home, the kids have an hour of play before nap time.

And while young ones rest, grownups chat in the kitchen over food prep. We are all great cheese fans and tree trimming calls for a really special cheese tray.

Kids are up! Time to decorate the young family's tree.

Once one cousin stood on a chair to hang an ornament (the instruction was to put all the glass ones out of reach of toddler hands!), all the cousins wanted to stand on chairs. So they did.

And the band played on...

Remarkably, Sandpiper did not break an ornament until much later in the day!

Reaching the top is no easy feat on this tree!

Done!

Oh Christams tree, oh Christmas tree...

Tuckered out...

Here comes our reward for working hard: pizza!

And eventually we near bedtime for the kids. Hey little ones, do you think we could take a photo of the five of you? And because this day is pure magic, they give us their best!

I return to the farmhouse in the glow of a most beautiful day.

With so much love!