Thanksgiving

Well the holidays have started and baby Miles had his first Thanksgiving. We were so happy to have Grandma and Grandpa Kross come up to North Dakota to celebrate with us. Grandpa Kross hadn't met Miles yet, so we were extra ecstatic to have him hear with us.

Grandma and Grandpa in the snow, as little of it as there was.
This was just before Dad started throwing snowballs at Mom

The Grandparents got here on Saturday before Thanksgiving and we had a whole week to spend with them. They got a nice little shock...I mean introduction to North Dakota November when they landed because it was in the teens. Growing up in New Jersey I would think my parents would be able to remember what cold was like. Not so much, but they were troopers and it warmed up later in the week. We went out to Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge and saw the new visitors center. We also had a fun treat when we got to the refuge we saw a bald eagle feeding on a dead deer.

Miles is just waking up here, Grandma looks wide awake though

We also went out to a friend's property to do some shooting. Grandpa wanted to practice with a gun and scope of his. Aaron took Willow for a walk about to hunt. Well, Grandpa and I shot for a bit, then he got too cold. Granted it was a pretty cold and windy morning, and the wind in ND can be brutal. Grandma stayed in the truck with Miles and kept warm.

Grandpa Kross and Miles reading the paper

So Thanksgiving came and we all had our responsibilities. Aaron was in charge of the turkey, I covered the green beans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie (I was also supposed to cover the cranberry sauce but Aaron ended up making that too). Grandma had the stuffing, creamed onions, and gravy while Grandpa made his famous butter and cream laden mashed potatoes.

No Dad! That's the baby not the turkey! Don't carve him!

Whew! That was a close one, good thing Mom was here to keep Dad from serving me up for dinner.

The kitchen was a well oiled machine. The turkey went in the oven first. As the day went on everything came together. When one dish was finished someone picked up washing the dishes. Then of course Miles demanded to be fed and we had to hold off eating for about half an hour.

Everyone at the Thanksgiving table, baby in the sling

Grandpa and Miles waiting for the mashed potatoes

Pass the gravy Grandma

On Friday after Thanksgiving was the Jamestown Holiday Dazzle Parade. Aaron and I have made it somewhat of a tradition to go to the parade and sit with our friends Karla and Scott. Well, I thought it would be fun to take the whole family to sit out in the cold for an hour and watch the parade.

Waiting for the parade to start, Grandma in the bomber hat I let her borrow.

Grandpa originally planned on going to the Grill (a local restaurant just down the street from where we were) to sit by the fire and stay warm. But he decided to join the family out in the cold and we are glad he did. This week was all about family and if we were going to be cold, at least we were going to be cold together.

The whole family in the cold.

Well, Grandma and Grandpa got to see the full range of Miles' moods. We had smiles and crying and up in the middle of the night and the rare sleep through the night night.We were sad to see them leave and we love them and can't wait to see them again. I really enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday with "my beautiful family".