A Wintry Wonderland

So, after our family feast (see post below), we packed our bags and headed to Abilene to visit the family and have some yummy food! Having been accustomed to weather reporters who get "overly dramatic" about wintry forecasts every single year, I didn't fully believe the news that it would be incredibly cold for Thanksgiving, and never even heard that the snow was in our forecast. This piece of information will come in handy later in this blog. Anyway, I packed somewhat warm clothing for all of us, and threw in a coat or two for good measure, and we were off.

We spent Wednesday through Friday hanging out with family, seeing dear old friends (Matt and Melissa----how did we spend those hours together and not get ONE picture of our families???), eating a ton of delicious food, watching /sleeping through football, hanging out with the girls' favorite second-cousin Carrie (these three were inseparable!), watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Little House on the Prairie (all snuggled up with Kristen),

and.....playing in FOUR INCHES of snow!

This was the BEST thing that has ever happened to Kendyll on Thanksgiving (according to her) and she gave thanks many times for this wonderful surprise....Even though she was in cotton leggings and a thin jacket....thanks to her oh-so-skeptical-of-weather-forecasters-mommy.

We eventually borrowed clothes from the older and wiser cousin Carrie, and then all was well for building a snowman, having a snowball fight with Daddy (look at that action shot!), eating lots of snowflakes as they fell,and making many a snow angel.

Not exactly what we expected for our Thanksgiving holidays. But, it sure made it a memorable one!

We also enjoyed being with Mark's grandmother, who got extra special Abby Kate cuddling (when we could peel her away from her mommy and daddy's arms. :).

Here she is cuddling again with Aunt Carol too!

And, with Pops...

Uncle Chuck is a skilled hunter and collector of amazing exotic animals. His office is truly spectacular. The girls are always infatuated with this room, and you can see why!

Can you find Kendyll? She looks like another one of the animals in her leopard print PJ's!

We also made time for a family picture....Once again, three photographers and many pictures later, we still don't have smiles on all of our faces. But, this was the closest we got.

Thanks Uncle Chuck, Aunt Carol, and cousins Kristen and George for amazing food and the warmest hospitality (and fireplace) in the city. We had a wonderful time and the girls are still talking about the fun!