Christmas begins!

Elden and Tracy (Rachel's brother and his wife) came for the Thanksgiving weekend! They loved meeting Caleb and provided an entire Thanksgiving dinner for Rachel's mom and grandmother, complete with the yummiest pumpkin cheesecake ever! We all went together to cut down a Christmas tree at the mountain creek Christmas tree farm where we have been going for 24 years!

We enjoyed going together to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens Garden D'Lights-it was a magnificent display of Christmas lights depicting plants and animals from around the world! It really helped me get in the Christmas spirit. The weekend was short but wonderful, and especially fun to have four generations together.

Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful trip to New Mexico to see the Williams side of the family. It was Caleb's first time on an airplane, and he did great! All of Jeremy's siblings, their spouses, and children were able to be there, so it was a wonderful occasion!

First we drove down to Carlsbad to the Farm to see Gaga and Papa. (Jeremy's paternal grandparents.) Gaga made us a grand slam breakfast and oohed and awed over little Caleb. We enjoyed our time there, albeit brief.

Then we met the rest of the family in Las Cruces for the big feast! The night before Thanksgiving we had a progressive dinner so we could see everyone's houses-I still think about Rachel and Anika's yummy salad. :) Carmelized almonds to die for.

Little Lilian, the only granddaughter so far-steals all our hearts!

We all had lots of fun together, in between cooking and taking care of children-we all laughed a lot and got caught up on each other's lives. We were excited to learn of two new babies who will be joining the family! Anita (Jeremy's sister) and Anika (sister in law) are both expecting!

"Mama" loved being with all her 8 grandbabies, and cousins and aunts and uncles got to know each other.

Papa was a proud patriarch of the whole brood.

Truly we all have so much to be thankful for.

First Smiles

Our little "squeaker" is 11 weeks old and continues to be such a joy! He will now readily smile and sometimes squeal with delight. He loves listening to music and hearing mommy sing him silly songs.

He loves looking at his mobile, and gets upset when it stops turning.