Early Thanksgiving

Greetings friends and family,

I finally convinced the photographer from our church picnic to send me the file in a size I can post.  This is by far one of my favorite pics in a long time.  If there's a father who thinks he loves his kids more than I do, I'll gladly take him to task because these two are the most valuable little people on the planet.

Nine people slept comfortably in our house for the past few days.  We used the extra leaf in the table to accommodate Thanksgiving dinner, three big-screen TVs at the same time, and three vehicles to shuttle us around for adventuring.  It's been a full week!

My luck at free tickets from work continues.  I won 4 tickets to see Sesame Street Live!  I couldn't believe they were $25 each because there is no way I'd throw a C note down to watch Big Bird dance.  It was a great show though.  All the classic characters and some new ones I never saw before.  The performance and stage set up were well done.  Most importantly, Easton and Layla's attention was captivated for the entire 90 minutes.

I have to attend in order to receive the tickets.  Easton and Layla obviously went.  but who else would join us?  Kendra and Mom were cooking up turkey like the Swedish Chef.  Dad was calculating touchdowns like Count von Count.  Logan and Bree were sleeping like Oscar the grouch.  That leaves...  Aunt Judy!  She gladly joined us for a ride downtown and a great show.

Logan and Bree had to return home early so we shifted our Thanksgiving dinner to Sunday.  Here's the clan after woofing down homemade rolls, hand-carved turkey, and several forms of potatoes.  The meal was excellent, but I doubt Kendra and Mom will be willing to do this every day.

We waddled away from table and wondered outside for an evening walk in the lovely Phoenix weather.  We ran out of flashlights, but have no fear!  Lightsabers to the rescue!  Easton and Layla led the way with their "don't mess with me" look.

Kendra took advantage of our zoo membership to get the whole family in for some monkey time.  Looks like the giraffe is eating Bree's hair, but it's just an illusion.  Easton and Layla are even more hyped up about being in their wedding now that we spent some time hanging out together.

We all enjoyed them spending a few days joining us for adventures and hanging out at home relaxing together.  Logan joined us in an epic nerf gun battle.  I'm still finding nerf darts in the strangest places around the house?

Part of the zoo entertainment is the carousel.  Easton and Layla have yet to get tired of the excitement.  Oupa is cool enough to join Easton for a few laps around the circle.  It's easy to see how much Easton revels in the hands-on attention from one of the most influential male figures in his life.

Ouma and Layla clung to the seahorse even though I'm sure Layla was chomping at the bit to go faster.  If she were a jockey I would feel sorry for that poor horse because Layla would push its limits.  These moments are the most memorable for the twins.