Sweet P Gracie: So much to be thankful for

The month started off with a great snow day for some sledding. Her first real experience with sledding was full of laughter and lots of snow eating. Still her fav.

Let it snow so I can eat it.

Then on the 17th was a big milestone for the little lady: Big Girl Bed. She was ready to move into a big girl bed, while Mommy wasn't. That night she did enjoy her only allowed bed jumping, though she tries to sneak a few more jumps when she can.

Big girl bed - That was mommy's from her grandmother

Thanksgiving 2011 - 3 different celebrations

First celebration was in Jacksonville Beach, Florida to officially meet Jeff's kids and family. Gracie got to know Jeff's kids very well on this trip, and she wouldn't let them go anywhere without her. She was a champ at waking them up in the morning. Mimi even painted a beautiful doll for her that she continues to play with.

Warm water pool of fun.

Gracie playing while the older folks tried our hand at touch football

The kids, Alex & Amy are the best ever in Gracie's mind.

Great photo of the group, Gracie wouldn't let A&A be without her

Second celebration was with the Peters family at Nana and Papa's house.

Always helpful, and always on the cutting edge of technology, Gracie takes time to show Nana some of the feature of her new smart phone. While she was excited about Thanksgiving, you can tell her heart is set on Christmas, evident by the gingerbread house shirt she wore a month early.

Gracie had lots of smiles with Daddy and lots of great food.

Hide and go seek, awesome game.

The third and final Thanksgiving was at the farm with Karla's family and the Sandersons. The kids of course had a ball playing games, bowling until it broke, reading, and just playing. The adults had a great time being able to actually talk now that the kids can entertain themselves. Gracie still calls Ian and Abigail her siblings, they love each other so much.

Family fun at the farm

Bowling broke so we had to read instead

We continued with our family tradition and put our Christmas decorations up right after Thanksgiving. This year we had the three generations of ladies as well as Jeff. My favorite part of putting up the Christmas tree was experiencing all the memories that came flooding back when I look at all the special ornaments. It was the first year Gracie really got to enjoy the experience. The whole holiday season she was obsessed with our outdoor lights. It was something to look forward to when we came home in the dark.