Thanksgiving Week

Last week was certainly a busy one for us. Family and friends travelled into town, Riley got a belated birthday present, Thanksgiving came and went, and the Tigers beat the Razorbacks to remain on top. Oh, and we ate. We ate a LOT.

Nola’s sister Dawn arrived on Monday, and she and Grams came by the house on Tuesday to see Riley-bean. Aunt Dawn also brought Riley’s birthday presents with her, and he had so much fun discovering his two new toys. Thanks, AD#1!

 

 

Cousin Uncle Brian and Cousin Aunt Rachel arrived on Wednesday evening. A progressive dinner has become a tradition when they’re in town, and Kenny and I were lucky enough to be invited this year (and to have a babysitter for Riley-bean….thanks, Nola and Nopsi!).

We joined Jeff, Erin, Brian, Rachel, and Keegan for appetizers at Drago’s, dinner at Theo’s, and dessert at Sucre. It was a fun and delicious evening out on the town, and it was great to spend time with everyone.

After passing out on Wednesday night (look where his right foot is!) and then going for a morning Turkey Day walk with his mama, Riley had no idea how busy the rest of his day would be.

Starting around 12:30 that afternoon, eleven other people descended on the house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Nola and Nopsi worked so hard to create a festive atmosphere, setting a beautiful table and putting together enough delectable dishes to feed an army of people. Everything was wonderful, you two!

Riley did really well throughout the day, charming everyone before dinner, eating his third meal of the day with all of us when we sat down for the main Thanksgiving meal, and then finally crashing for a late afternoon nap. And he looked so cute in his plaid shirt and gray corduroy pants. (Thanks, Kel-Kel and Skeets!)

We were up late on Thursday night (playing Apples to Apples, of course…..”Don’t forget your green cards!”), and then Kenny and I took Riley across the lake on Friday for a belated Thanksgiving celebration with his family. Steve, Jaimi, and Zac drove over from Baton Rouge to join us, and Grandma and Grandpa of course rounded out the gathering. However, the main event of the day was that little football game between LSU and Arkansas, so our attention was focused on the television for the better part of the afternoon. The game would also be why I didn’t take a single picture on Friday. I had to steal these from Jaimi….thanks, Jaim!

Kenny and I decided the three of us would spend the night in Mandeville on account of a potential trip to the farm the next day, but sadly, the weather prevented us from introducing Riley to his cow, Magic. We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa despite that snag in our plans, though, going on a couple of outings to the neighborhood park and playing outside a lot in general. Riley had so much fun, in fact, that he fell asleep in the car on the way home for the first time in a long time.

Thanks must go to both sets of grandparents for hosting two stellar dinners and for gathering us all together during this special time of year. We hope everyone had as fulfilling and fun a Thanksgiving as we did!