Thanksgiving-ka

This past weekend was so great!  We had the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving and Hanukkah surrounded by family. What more could a girl ask for?

Yay for turkey!

Thanksgiving was celebrated at Adam's mom's house.  The best part? She invites MY family over too so we don't have to split our time between two houses.  I sometimes forget how lucky we are that our families are so close.  But when I hear my friends talking about how they have to eat Thanksgiving lunch at one house, let the baby nap in the car, and then Thanksgiving at a second house, I am quickly reminded of just how amazing our family is.  This year, Adam's mom made Thanksgiving dinner for my parents, my sister and her husband, and my grandma.  She basically cooked for MY family.  What a lady!
I tried to tell everyone how thankful I was to be part of both families during Thanksgiving dinner, but of course I broke down before it all came out. I even had practiced it in my head while I was feeding Eliel just before dinner and never got it out.  I am truly overcome with how blessed Adam and I have been this year.  I couldn't imagine wanting for anything else.

Adam's Plate

Anyway, enough of the mushy gushy stuff.   You all want to see pictures of Eliel and hear how his dinner went, right?  Well, the best way to say it is that he PIGGED OUT!  This kid ate his 'normal' blended dinner (albeit a smaller portion than usual) and then went to town on turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and green bean casserole. He ate what Adam ate, only in Eliel size. He was pretty happy about it too!

After a lovely day at Thanksgiving, we proceeded to celebrate Hanukkah on Sunday with brunch.  Adam's Uncle Hal and Aunt Aliceson came over and we all enjoyed some yummy food and Eliel got to taste kugel for the first time!  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a noodle dish made with cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, raisins and cinnamon.  We use Grandma Gold's recipe and it's delish!  Google it if you want to bring a yummy dish to your next family get together.  Anyway, Eliel again enjoyed all the food (wonder who he gets that from!) and was even more excited about the second part of Hanukkah... presents!

Matching Plaid Buddies

Eliel hasn't had the chance to open presents or be around anyone opening presents since he's been more 'aware' of his surroundings.  The last family birthday we has was in September and I don't think he was even awake when we were opening gifts.  So, Grandpa had to show him how it works.  Once he got the hang of it, there was no going back!  He  now understands that he needs to rip the paper (something he LOVES doing anyway!) and that there is usually something inside that he wants.

The first gift was in a box and needed to be put together so he wasn't too excited about it.  But, a stuffed Snoopy was in the second box and the look on his face as he opened it was just priceless!  I wish I would have had the video camera on as he did it. 

Ooooooo!

Hi Snoopy!

He smiled and giggled as Adam helped him pull Snoopy out of the box. Eliel then gave Snoopy a big hug!  It was such a joy to watch! I can't wait to watch him open Christmas gifts.