This year for Thanksgiving my mom and all my siblings and their families gathered at our house for Thanksgiving. In the morning while the turkey cooked, the men and children raked leaves. Some leaves made it into bags.
But most leaves were used for this...
And this...
Rachael and Liz holding Brooklyn watch as Elliott, Ruby and Ephraim make it rain leaves while Peyton digs for toys in a box.
Joy is found in little miracles!
Can you find Ruby in this picture? (Hint: she is wearing a camouflage hat.)
There she is!
Ephraim is burying Elliott in the leaves.
It tickles on the neck!
Leaf fight!
Our fruit trees make great climbing trees, but these Cook monkeys could climb anything!
Willard up in the branches.
Ben climbing and posing.
With Keith for a dad, Peyton has no fear of heights! If you look closely, she is peeking through the gap above the rain gutter. Don't worry, Keith is strong and steady.
Then we came inside for play time.
And time to sit around and visit.
Liz brought yummy ingredients to make candy turkeys.
Ben, Joselyn and Willard hard at work.
Ben's masterpiece!
Will's turkey!
Brad getting in on the fun! I made one too!
Cute Peyton putting leaves on the window....after taking them off first!
Gorgeous Peyton!
With so many family members bringing yummy food, the prep wasn't too hard and soon we were all eating a delicious Thanksgiving meal.
Rachael, baby Brooklyn and Peyton.
The infamous "kid table!"
I am partial, but I think Elliott is the cutest kid ever!
Although Joselyn taking a huge bite is pretty darn cute too!
And I don't think "cute" is the look Ben is going for here.
Ephraim looks like he is already in turkey-coma mode.
My brothers, Keith, David and Dewey being good husbands and dads and making sure their kids and wives have food first. Now it's their turn!
Emily, Holly and Jeffrey enjoying the meal. What is Jeffrey looking at you say?
Why, Uncle Brad, of course!
I love how all the nieces and nephews love their Uncle Brad so much!
Caleb, Celeste and Enoch eating too! There is room for everyone!
Mom, enjoying all the time with her kids and grandkids.
She is an excellent Gramma!
Brian and I enjoying the food too!
We are all together for the first time since Keith's wedding, I think, so what better time to take a family photo! Thanks to a tripod and Dewey setting the timer, we have a picture of the entire Cook Family!
Starting on the back row, Ruby, Liz, Holly, Elliott, Dejah, Brittany, Caleb, Celeste, Rachael and Peyton.
Sitting: Dewey, Craig, Jeffrey, Brian, Brad, David and Keith holding Brooklyn.
Front row: Ben, Joselyn, Gramma, Emily, Ephraim, Enoch and Willard.
With Thanksgiving now over, we can start off the Christmas season and have our family gift exchanges while we are all together! Gramma handing out advent calendars to all the kids.
Oh the excitement of presents!
Emily waiting her turn and Keith and Peyton looking on.
All attention is on Gramma and the gifts!
Everyone behaving well, except Dewey!
I love Ben's expression of jealousy over Enoch's rubber-band gun!
My favorite gift was the quilt I made from my dad's jeans to give my mom.
She liked it too!
It was so wonderful to have my entire family at my house for Thanksgiving. We are truly grateful we all live close enough to gather together and that our home is large enough to hold us all and centrally located too. I am thankful for my parents and my siblings and their amazing wives and all the nieces and nephews that make us such a blessed family! I love this time of year to remember with gratitude all we have been blessed with.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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