We're just a little hungry!

 Every Thanksgiving, the big fight is over who gets the legs.  Grandpa Gene always gets one and then everyone else (by everyone else, I mean the kids) battles it out.  Well, this year, I decided that all the kids were going to have to share.  So we passed it around and took a shot of each of them gnawing on that nasty thing.

 And then we all enjoyed our dinner in peace.

 Grandma Julie brought crafty stuff for the kids.

The boys made pilgrim hats and the girls made bonnets.

And Shay and Esther helped the kids make cornicopias while the rest of us kicked back and relaxed.

Good times.

Thanksgiving/Christmas with the Jackson's

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Jackson family during the Thanksgiving weekend.  We had Thanksgiving dinner, went Black Friday shopping, cut down our Christmas trees, saw the lights at Temple Square and opened Christmas presents.  Here are some pics of the day we let the kids open the presents they bought for each other.  We also sang, "Happy Birthday," to Cameron, Becky, Steph and Jenny.  

 Hallie & Lawren

 Capri & Lexi

 Rhett, Cameron & Tanner

 Matt and his awesome present

 Lawren

 Rhett

 Hallie

 Tanner

 Lexi

The whole fam

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

 I just love these little boys.   I took some shots of the cousins in the tub on Thanksgiving night.  It  is so fun to watch them all play together.  They are best buddies.  It makes me sad when I think about Lexi and Capri, and how much fun they will have together without our little Quinn, but I'm glad that the two of them will still be able to have fun together.  Anyway, I love these pictures of Cameron in the tub.  He's such a cutie!

Oh, my goodness! I forgot the turkey!

 I almost forgot to post about Thanksgiving.  What good is a journaling blog if I forget half of the stuff we do?  This Thanksgiving we celebrated with Mike's family on the actual day and my Dad and brother came over the Sunday before.  Nisha and Brad couldn't make it since they just got out of the hospital with their new baby and my mom had other plans this year.  It was a pretty low-key year for us.  Very Nice.

Here's Grandpa Gene.  We were so proud of him.  He didn't even fall asleep at our house once this year-- if you know my dad, that is VERY impressive.  Good job Dad!

The kids kept Shay very busy.  He hardly had the chance to sit down.

Our turkey was a little dry, okay, a lot dry, and the yams definitely didn't turn out like Mom's, but we had a good time.

 * * *

Thanksgiving at the Jackson's gets a little more crowded each year, but it is a lot of fun.  There are 2 grandparents, 5 kids-- 4 with spouses, and 10 grandkids all squished into the kitchen/family room.  But, oh, is there yummy food.  Becky is a GREAT cook.

Cameron is stuck in his high chair in the corner.

Of course, Mike has stolen the baby.  He takes after his Dad. 

We played games and ate lots of junk food, and went Black Friday shopping at midnight.  And how could I forget...

the Annual Mike vs Ryan Thanksgiving BBall Game.  Much to our dismay, Ryan is still the reining champ.  We'll see who wins next year when they go full court!