Great times had by all

We had a fabulous trip up to NY to visit my family! We left the house in spotless condition (just in case someone wanted to see our house while we were gone) at 6am on Wednesday morning. The kids were great on the car ride up and we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Simmons' house in the mid afternoon. Carson was soooo excited to see them and both him and Bryn LOVED being with them all weekend. We enjoyed the evening with my parents and started making some food for the following day.

Thanksgiving Day was great!! We awoke to hearing Carson on the baby monitor saying "Brynlee...it's time to wake up!". I quickly went and got him so she could sleep a little longer...good thing too, she didn't wake up till 9:30am! The first thing Carson asked me when he got up was "are my cousins here?". He was sooo excited to play with his cousins. They came a little later and he played with them NON-STOP! He loved building "caves" with McKee and Seth and jumping on the trampoline with Brooke and Tyler...too bad we all don't live closer to each other! That morning my dad took some pictures of the kiddos in their Christmas outfits. Taking pictures of one kid, let alone TWO, drives me bonkers!! Bryn would NOT SIT in the cute little white rocking chair for more than a second, so we only ended up getting ONE picture of her alone. After NUMEROUS attempts to get a cute picture of the two kids together, we surrendered and sat down with the kids (to hold them down!) and got a cute family picture. I like the way they turned out though....thanks dad, you're great!! Thanksgiving meal was fabulous as usual. I think I could eat turkey, potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes and rolls EVERYDAY! Thanks mom for such a scrumptious meal! The rest of the evening we lounged and talked...it was perfect! I am soo thankful for my family, friends and life!

Friday morning my mom, Crystal, and I woke up bright and early for a second annual black friday shopping at Joann Fabrics. It was awesome!! We got there a little after the store opened at 6am and didn't leave till close to 10am! I bought TONS of fun flannel at only $1.49/yd and I also bought a SERGER!!! I've been wanting one and this one was 50% off, so I got the last one...yippee!!! Here's hoping I can figure out how to use it! That afternoon, we took my parents out to Friendly's for lunch and then Dan took Carson to see his first ever movie in the theater. They saw Madagascar II and apparently Carson LOVED it! While the boys watched the movie, Bryn and I roamed the mall. After dinner, we went to visit Alison and her family. Her little daughter is getting so big and is absolutely adorable. We had fun chatting and the kids LOVED playing with her dog, Mia. It was soo fun seeing you Ali! Later that night, when the kids were tucked into bed, Dan and I went to see Twilight, which we both liked. Lucky Dan...he saw TWO movies in one day!

On Saturday, we hung out with Jill and Carlos for lunch and a little Rock Band. We had a ROCKIN' good time and decided that we definitely should live closer to each other :) Later we enjoyed another yummy dinner my mom made with Mike and Crystal's family.

The drive back on sunday was pretty uneventful, thank goodness. Although, we did stop at the Harrisburg mall (like usual) and Carson and Bryn got a free picture with Santa...so cute! Unfortunately, no one came to see our beautifully clean house while we were gone....well, no one until we barely got home! We literally had just walked in the door from driving all day, brought ALL of our stuff in from the van, and the phone rang! Someone wanted to see our house in an hour. So, we had to put ALL of our stuff back into the van, pack up our over-tired kids, and leave our house. I couldn't believe it!!! What TERRIBLE TIMING!!!! I'll forgive the person if they BUY MY HOUSE!!! Here's hoping. Anyway...we had a fabulous long weekend in NY! Here are some pictures!