Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all your blessings. I am beyond thankful for my husband and two precious girls. They make my life a million times better than I ever imagined. I know I don't deserve all the blessings God has given me but I am truly thankful every single day. You can't help but praise God and thank him when you rock a sleeping baby or say bedtime prayers with an inquisitive 4 year old. My goal is to thank him even when my 4 year old is throwing a fit and my baby is crying. Because even in those times I am beyond grateful that he chose me to be their mommy.
This Thanksgiving was even more special because of the addition of Reese AND Cameron. Cameron is now officially a Martin! We drove to Little Rock last Sunday because his court time was Monday at 8:30. We knew driving in the morning of would be hard if not impossible and we for sure wanted to be there. We got to LR around 3 and headed to the Hunts house. The Sanders met us there too and it was great to get to visit for awhile. The kids had a blast running around outside playing in the grape smelling bubbles!
We stayed there until about bedtime and then headed to our hotel. We had told Ryne that she could swim, and she was so excited about it that we let her stay up late for a little pool time. Reese even dipped her toes in! :) Ryne was so funny about her swimsuit. She did not like her belly button showing! She even covered it when we passed a lady on the way to the pool. She said "oh, I don't want her to see my belly button"...ha! She might be becoming modest...which is a great thing!
Ryne had so much fun swimming and it wore her out. She was out in no time! The next morning we got up early and headed to the court house. It was POURING rain, but still an amazing day! The Judge was so so nice, he really made it special for everyone. I had told Ryne that she had to be super quiet and super still because of how special it was. I also told her that a Judge was a police man's boss and she better behave! ha! Of course he invited all the kids up to sit on his lap and after that Ryne wasn't scared of him! I was taking pictures for Brad and Beth and my parents were helping with Ryne...she did pretty good staying somewhat calm! :)
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| Reese just chilled! |
We all went to IHOP after for breakfast. We had the place to ourselves for the most part. The kiddos played while we waited for our food. Thankfully it didn't take long because we had some hungry kiddos! After that we went back to Brad and Beth's to visit for a little while longer. The man of the hour (Cameron) was worn out and took a long nap. Perfect sleeping weather! We actually had to leave before he woke up but we were just so glad to be a part of his special day!
Once we left there we swung by the McNabs house for a little visit. Myles is about 3 weeks older than Reese but we had never been able to see him. So glad we finally got to meet Mr. Myles...he is such a cutie! He just happens to be Reese's future husband, so other babies - hands off! :)
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| Won't this be cute in their wedding video?! lol! |
We just got to visit for a little bit before we had to hit the road. The weather was terrible and we had heard that NWA was going to get even worse. We wanted to make it home before dark so at least we weren't trying to drive through the rain in the dark. It is a good thing we left when we did because it rained on us about the last half of the trip and started pouring as soon as we got home.
Tuesday and Wednesday were business as usual. We went to Fun City Pizza and Dance Class. My parents came up Wednesday and then on Thursday we all headed to Siloam Springs. Our first stop was the Martin's side. We were excited to see everyone, especially Grandma Martin!
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| Playing at Tom and Debbie's |
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| Tom and Debbie have 4 horses...bet you can guess where we were most of the time! |
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| This is the face I got when I told her we couldn't climb through the fence! ha! |
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| The oldest girl is Heidi, Ryne's 2nd cousin. The other girl is Reese and the boy is Cooper. Reese and Cooper are neighbors. |
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| This was Grandma Martin's first time to meet Reese! |
Just because memories are made of stuff like this...
Reese had a major blow out...I mean MAJOR at the Martins. So bad that it even got on Jeremy! She had on the cutest outfit and this happened before I had taken a single picture of her cuteness. :( I had extra clothes for her, but none for J of course! ha! So he made a quick trip to the only place open for a change of clothes - Wal-Mart!
After we left the Martins we headed to the Bradfords. Ryne had more cousins to play with and more horses to pet! She even got to ride one bareback! The guys all shot skeet while the girls sat around and talked. It was a great visit! I am so thankful for my whole family and the fact that both sides were so close in distance this year! :)
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| Halli saying bye to "Reesie"! :) |
It was a great day spent with family! We did missed J's side; but thankfully we will see them soon for CHRISTmas!
The rest of the weekend was spent being lazy, hanging out with my parents, doing some shopping, and putting up our CHRISTmas decorations. I just love this time of the year. CHRISTmas really is the most wonderful time of the year!
