Thanksgiving and more

So much keeps happening, it's hard to keep everyone updated. We had such a nice Thanksgiving, it was so amazing to us to see so many friend and family in such a short time. The weekend before Thanksgiving my parents drove down to visit so that my dad could see the house. They left on Monday morning. About three hours later, the Thalmans arrived on our doorstep ready to play all day. On Wednesday, Shannon and the O'Kelley clan arrived from Newport beach. Ryan took Willa over to play for a few hours and returned home just as the Rathers were pulling up. They stayed the night with us en route to California. It was so fun to get to know little Mason better and to meet baby Max and just to spend time with good friends.

Thanksgiving Day and the rest of the week were also so nice. We hung out a lot at Rebecca's house with family and ventured to Circus Circus one morning to ride the rides courtesy of Shannon and Graham. Willa loved cousin Claire and really got spoiled having someone to constantly play with her. It was the best kind of holiday time. We all gathered on Saturday morning for a big breakfast before Shannon and Graham headed back to California and Adam and Amanda went back to Utah. There was just enough time to go home and have the kids nap before Ashley and NH were back again! We spent the afternoon and evening together and then after dinner another USC couple who was in town stopped by, the Sperrys. Then it became a late night with a lot of friends and a lot of tired kids playing in the house but it was so worth it. The Rather's left on Sunday morning and then on Monday we got to see the Thalmans one last time before they flew back to Houston.

Ryan and I tried to savor every minute of being with our loved ones. One of the biggest pushes for us to move back was that we felt our life could be so much richer if we lived nearer to family. At least near enough that it was within a reasonable driving distance for an occasional visit instead of a very long and very expensive plane ticket. It's been an answer to prayers and something we really sought for to have this kind of holiday. It was something we could only dream about before and to have it a reality is such a blessing.

We hardly took any pictures of anything, but here are a few I found.

Willa wearing another of my hand-me-downs to church. This one was a Grandma Knoles homemade original.

  

 My mom brought her amazing steamer down and Ryan was busy deep cleaning everything. It was like magic!

 Willa helping my dad make a complete set of outdoor lights. They had two sets that each had missing bulbs, so they had to test each bulb and build one good set. Willa was very helpful and could unscrew the bulbs all by herself!