give thanks

We had an extremely fun Thanksgiving weekend. My parents stayed at our house from Wednesday through Friday. On Wednesday night, my mom and I took the girls to their first movie in the theater. We saw the new Disney movie "Tangled," which is about Rapunzel. I warned my mom that the experience might be a complete disaster since the girls had never been inside a movie theater before, but we thought we would try it. Olivia loved it and wore her emotions on her sleeve throughout the whole movie. She would grin ear-to-ear, then cackle loudly at the funny parts, then bury her head in my shoulder during the semi-scary parts, then tear up at the sad parts. At the end, she said her favorite part was the silly guy (the comic relief character during the movie). Violet liked it too, but she wasn't as patient. During the second preview (yes....preview), she announced "I want to go home." I pulled her into my lap and she managed to make it through the movie, although she got a little fidgety at the end. She was content with munching on popcorn; I think she devoured over half the bag. At the end, she said she liked the movie and her favorite part was the bad guys. We had a fun time, and overall the girls were very good.

On Thanksgiving Day, my sister Terri and her family came over for a visit. We had a very relaxing day, and enjoyed spending time with them and my parents. We ate our big meal on Thursday evening. My mom was a huge help and spent hours with me in the kitchen. Jamie's cousin and his family came over as well, and we had a great time. The girls sat at a kid's table, which I called the "princess table," so they were excited. They even wanted to change into their princess costumes. Violet loved the cranberries again this year, and I think Olivia's favorite food was Grandpa's pumpkin dessert. I asked the girls what they were thankful for this year, and Violet said the color blue so Olivia followed by saying the color orange. I don't think they quite understood the question! However, I thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving Day and am very thankful for all of the blessings in my life.

On Friday morning, we took the girls to their doctor for their 3-year checkup. I was a bit surprised that they are in the 90th percentile for height. Who knew! Violet was pretty goofy with their doctor; she would let him check her ears and then she would hop around the room, then come back for her next procedure. The doctor spent half his time laughing at our silly girls. Olivia let Violet go first for everything; then she would announce "I want to do it too." They both checked out just great and are happy & healthy 3-year-olds.

On Saturday, we went to St. Cloud to meet up with Jamie's family. We put together a little surprise celebration for Jamie's mom for her 60th birthday. We ate together at a restaurant, and then stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn. Gayle was very surprised and excited! The girls had a blast in the pool, and really enjoyed spending time with their cousins. The girls also opened their birthday presents from the Suchy family. They couldn't rip the paper off fast enough! They were of course totally spoiled with too many presents, and loved every minute of it.

Granny & Olivia (in her Ariel princess costume) enjoying Thanksgiving dinner:

Violet (in her Jasmine princess costume) enjoying her cranberries:

Grandpa reading to Olivia & Violet, which he did A LOT during their visit:

Olivia in the big pool with Nicholas & Chelsey:
Olivia, Grandma Suchy & Violet playing in the kiddie pool:
Violet, cousin Claire & Olivia playing in the kiddie pool:

Nicholas, Violet, Chelsey & Olivia:

Grandpa Suchy & Violet: