The very best part of this past week was having our entire family together. This will be the last time we are all together for a long time. This was constantly in the back of my mind. I loved having all of the kids stay at our home. We had kids sleeping in every room- even in the entertainment room. We had so many good laughs, many good chats and I took many photos. We had Devan join us this year too!
So thankful for Taylor and Kayla who made Thanksgiving Dinner food. They are the cooks in the family and made home made everything. It was truly the best Thanksgiving I can ever remember. I loved having the littles- Maxson and Azalea sleep over for four nights. This was a treat to be around the babies so much. The entire family loved it!
Yes, our family just keeps growing. I love our 'brady bunch' family so much. I can't imagine not having Matt, Seth and now Kayla and the kids in my life. It is true that love simply grows. For this I am so beyond thankful. When I married Ty he had Matt and Seth and had been married before. I had been recently divorced and had three little girls- Taylor, Gentry and McKay. Then we fell DEEPLY in love and we had two more sons together- Zach and Ty. I had no idea 16 years ago how much happiness ALL of our kids and family would bring to me. It was hard at first to "blend" our families. What got us through the tough days (yes, there was some majorly tough days) was our love. When I look at "us" now... I could not be more thankful.
Soon...we are adding another person into our family.
Save the date invitations were created this weekend- thank you Donna Wells- I love you!!!!!! The official date is May 21st 2013. They are getting married in the Draper Temple.
I took many blurry photos that I will forever cherish...
Taylor, Gentry and McKay
I am so thankful for sweet Kayla in our family. She is a good mother and I know it was important for her to move so that she can be near her family in Washington again. I cried too many tears when they left yesterday. It is only because I love them all so much and I will miss seeing them grow up, going to see them as they are playing sports, dance, etc. Our entire family is really sad to see them go because we will miss seeing them grow up and living close by.
We played clue, and lots of board games. I always lose. I am not competitive so it all works out.
Devan is the musical master. He is truly AMAZING and I loved that he played with the "littles" on the piano. He is the sweetest guy and we are thrilled that he is marrying Gentry.
We had sleep overs each night and Mckay loved her footed jammies that matched Maxsons. My house was a big mess for days and I was okay with this. The memories... great memories are what mattered.
We took Gentry and looked at wedding dresses. Yes, she found the most amazing classic couture (with bling) dress. It is amazing!!!!! Right by the shop was this pharmacy and they had this cute "Christmas Cottage." It was the perfect place to throw the Fall leaves.
At 2.5 years old he is a little Indian for Thanksgiving. Maxson melts our heart!!!!
Our family had EIGHT desserts for Thanksgiving. We loved that Grandma Collins and Uncle Bret and little Bret joined us that night. *On the table is our TIME CAPSULE. We did a time capsule 12 years ago that we opened on Thanksgiving together as a family. It was beautiful to see where we each are 12 years later and where we "predicted" we would be. As a family we worked on our new TIME CAPSULE and each took the time to write down what we are doing now (life right now) and what we think we will be doing in 5, 10, and 15 years from now. We will open it again in five years. It really helped our family reflect on each other and how much we love each other. It was something that added so much meaning to our day and it was a way to document with my family in a "different way." Every single person did it. I am thankful that the boys did it and did not even complain.
It was so wonderful to have McKay home too. She has been homesick and being home with us really helped her. Thankfully, it's only a couple more weeks and she will be home for Winter break.
I could not have asked for a better week. I took time off of blogging and just completely focused on "being present." I hope you each had a wonderful week with your families too.
As a scrapbooker- taking photos of our time together will help me always remember this week. Our seven kids... I sure love them all so much!!!!!!
