Thanksgiving

With Laura as my co-pilot, us girls loaded up in the Ex and headed over the mountains for Thanksgiving. We cut our time by an hour as the girls were able to go 4 and 4.5 hours between feedings. Cassidy was a great traveler and Laura made sure we all were well taken care of. We arrived in Dayton Wednesday night and took over Mom and Dad's bedroom while Cass slept upstairs with Grandma and Papa in her tent that stayed up from hunting and settled in.

Thursday morning, Bryce arrived to find his Birthday surprise (Jessica) and Dad got the girls (his girls) harnessed up for a practice run. Cassidy was definitely up for "helping" and despite the cold was right up front helping him drive.

Dinner was a wonderful team effort and Jess dived right in while Cass and I were in charge of the the squash and of course marshmallows, which took a second try but tasted yummy!

Laura supervising Dad carving the turkey

and helping Bryce with dishes afterwards

We also celebrated Dad and Bryce's birthdays and of course Cassidy was right in the middle, both serenading and helping blow out candles and open presents.

Friday morning brought the annual Christmas Kickoff and Dad doing the wagon rides. His new crew worked well and all went off without a problem. This year people were telling him that they drove to Dayton just for the wagon rides...pretty cool!

Mom and I and the girls got to town a little later and Cassidy didn't waste any time riding shotgun with Papa, going 4 straight despite the cold.

Cassidy got a chance to visit with Santa and although still very shy, did manage to sit on his lap on her own. She didn't talk to him, but did sit tight through the visit. She was upset afterwards saying "I didn't tell him what I wanted" but was reassured when I told her that Santa would know. Next year I think she'll be ready!

Of course we had to go back into town for the fireworks...It was great and then us girls (Jess and Laura) got to go out on the town thanks to Bryce and Mom babysitting the twins. I even got a beer and went down a slide...It was great!

There was a lot of hanging out, Papa showed Cassidy how to work the computer on her own and Grandma perfected double fisting and every one was there for my girls...it was a wonderful weekend with family and friends that are definitely a part of my family.

Jessica got a great series of Sawyer muggin' that I have to share...

Out trip home was another success and again got shorter. No matter how long of a drive, it's always well worth the effort and time to be with loving family...Thank You!