Thanksgiving Week at the Farm

Since all the kids were out of school for the full week of Thanksgiving, we loaded up Monday morning headed for the farm. We had a delightful week of family, friends, and fun, and the boys didn't even notice that they never got in the car to leave the farm the whole week. I forgot my camera (eek!), so I've collected pictures from my phone, Mr. Morgan's phone, and our friend Bonnie's super-sweet camera with a great lens. Thanks, Bonnie, for the great family shots!

Every day the boys played in the leaves: They played by themselves, with friends, with Mr. Morgan, with Uncle Travis--all the time. Jumping into the big pile was great fun as was being thrown into the big pile.

Collier would disappear into the pile, but he loved every minute of it.

During Aunt Linda and Uncle Billy's visit, the boys enjoyed lots of leaf-time especially when they got to bury Uncle Billy. He's such a good sport! Linda snapped this sweet picture of Collier.

Claire started all the fun by raking the big pile of leaves in the front yard.

Claire spent several afternoons riding with Susan, Mimi and Pops's neighbor with all the horses. This time Claire got to ride by herself; she was totally excited!

As has become Dad's tradition, he made a big pot of Brunswick stew the day after Thanksgiving.

We were so happy to have the newly engaged couple Travis and Cheri with us at Thanksgiving. We talked a lot about wedding plans!

Mom's table was beautiful and stretched to its limit with all 12 of us around it for the Thanksgiving meal.

We finished our Thanksgiving meal with delicious desserts, and Collier dug right into his piece.

One day after naps, Mimi and Hamilton stole a few moments of quiet together reading Mimi's latest magazine.

Since Billy and Linda wouldn't be coming back at Christmas, the kids enjoyed opening their gifts over the Thanksgiving week. Thomas the train was a big hit.

On Friday we did some skeet shooting on the farm. Though I was not good at shooting skeet, I did feel very Garden & Gun which was cool.

Our dear family friends the Trammells came for some afternoon shooting and a laid-back party. Though there were five kids under four running around everywhere, the noise and mayhem was manageable with adults outnumbering little ones 3:1. Using Bonnie's great camera and lens, I captured a sweet picture of the whole Trammell clan. It's so fun to get everyone together, especially with our growing families. But with all of us spread out from Nashville to Charleston, it doesn't happen often enough.

On one of their many walks, the boys enjoyed some time playing on Pops's trailers.

Our last morning on the farm, we spent some time picking out the church's tree and our family's tree. Both made it back to Charleston safely, and the Leyland Cypress at the church, I think, is the prettiest tree we've ever had there.

Mom's birthday always gets lumped in with Thanksgiving, so we celebrated Saturday morning at breakfast before we headed back to Charleston. We invited Grandma over, too, and I cooked a special breakfast giving Mom the morning off.

Brunswick Stew for Mom's Birthday

Dad prepped his cauldron yesterday and shopped for his ingredients on Wednesday. Today was the day for making brunswick stew--almost nine gallons!

Dad and Travis kept the fire going and watched the meat cook early in the day. The afternoon was full of chopping and deboning the meat, prepping the veggies, and combining them into the stew.

We enjoyed the fruits of our labors with brunswick stew for dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday. Hamilton was excited to help Mimi open her presents.

Then he wanted Mimi to hold her "two boys." Kisses upon Collier's cheeks ensued, and our laughing only encouraged Hamilton's manhandling of Collier's poor face.

A Little Christmas

Since Uncle Billy and Aunt Linda won't be with us for Christmas, they brought the boys' presents with them this Thanksgiving. Hamilton will have plenty to open on Christmas, so he enjoyed opening their presents yesterday. Thomas the Train made an appearance--he always gets a big grin from Hamilton.

Opening wrapped gifts is a favorite of Hamilton's--even if the presents aren't for him. He loves the thrill of the unknown. So when the gifts are for him, he gets doubly excited.

He's been playing with Thomas and Percy since he opened them.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Taylor clan gathered at the farm for Thanksgiving dinner this year with more family members than some years.

The men fried the turkey, which has become our tradition for the past several years. Apparently it's a lot of hard work for them.

We women cooked inside, and I contributed a "paleo" pumpkin pie. It was so delicious!

After delicious food, we took advantage of our numbers and played a rousing game of tag football while the little boys napped.

Hamilton and Collier enjoyed the attentions of their Uncle Billy and Aunt Linda who were fabulous playmates.

Thanksgiving at the Farm

Our original plans for Thanksgiving involved a Morgan/Taylor-family road trip to Tennessee to visit Mr. Morgan's family. After our most recent road trip, we determined a 12-hour trip with Hamilton would not be prudent, relaxing, or fun for anyone. At this age he's not a good traveler for distances taking longer than about two hours. Sadly, we didn't see Mr. Morgan's family this Thanksgiving, so we're thrilled they've planned to come to us for Christmas!

With our Tennessee plans canceled, we decided to go to the farm for several days. Mr. Morgan took his outdoor cooker again to fry our Thanksgiving bird for the fourth year. Our dear friend David joined us on Wednesday, and we had a long-overdue reunion having not seen him since August.

Mom wanted a good picture of our whole family, so we dressed in neutral colors and picked a pretty spot in the yard as a backdrop.

I love Hamilton's expression in this picture; I'm sure he's responding to some crazy antics performed to draw his attention away from his truck for a few seconds.

Uncle Billy played with Hamilton and his truck, and he threw the tennis ball for Fatty. She was an instant fan of his.

Uncle Billy and Aunt Linda are so sweet to my children, tirelessly playing and entertaining each of them and bringing sweet, little gifts. Claire spent many hours of the weekend reading the book they brought her, and Hamilton has not stopped playing with or talking about his tiny trucks.

Mom had two beautifully decorated tables for our Thanksgiving feast, and we enjoyed all our delicious favorites.

We only lacked two cousins (and their spouses) from having all of Grandma's family together for the holiday. We don't often all get together, so it's a treat when we can. I know we endured about a dozen shots between all the different cameras, so everyone can't smile the whole time; but how do most of us look like Awkward Family Photos and my brother looks like a floor model?

Hamilton's favorite outdoor activity is riding in Mimi's wagon. We took turns pulling him all over the farm for many hours.

He tried to pull the wagon himself, but he quickly gave up when it only moved a few inches after enormous effort.