Firsts and Last

We had such a great Thanksgiving weekend.  We planned to stay home because I am flying to Utah December 5th and we originally thought that Erik had to work the day after Thanksgiving. I invited our friends the Goates on the chance that they'd be interested on leaving their family for the holiday to celebrate and stay with us. They said yes and we were thrilled!

We had the greatest time making dinners together, black Friday (Thursday night) shopping, exploring Colorado, playing with our girls, watching Downton Abbey, swooning over cousin Matthew (did you SEE him at the Thanksgiving Day parade?!) and laughing at Erik while made fun of it all, even though he secretly LOVES IT! (Let's just say because of him he has completely ruined Lady Grantham (Cora) for all of us)

It was Elsie's first Thanksgiving 

 Violet had so much fun with darling little Magnolia who kept us all entertained with her faces and dance moves

We stayed up late Wednesday night making pies and getting everything prepared for the next morning.

It was Vienna and I's first Thanksgiving away from family (mission for the guys) and our first time cooking the entire meal by ourselves (again mission was the first for the guys). We didn't take any short cuts, made rolls and 4 pies from scratch (except for the crust) had a huge turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, the whole nine yards. Although, we did decide last minute not to make yams because none of us are very fond of them.

 It was a feast fit for Lord's and Ladies. Every last bit was delicious and perfect

 Erik carved the turkey at the table, just like I've always wanted

Violet put on her dress ups, which she hardly ever takes off, and then quickly went out back to play in the (old) fire pit after dinner, unbeknownst to me.

We went to Wreck it Ralph (which was darling) that evening and followed it up with our amazing pies

 The day after Thanksgiving we ditched the big shopping trips, crowded stores and malls and headed to the Denver Zoo. Erik and Violet are the only ones that had ever been so it was a first for the rest of us. It was beautiful but a bit chilly

 Poor baby Elsie had her first big boo boo at the zoo. I completely forgot to buckle her in to the stroller (in fact I didn't even remember or think that I was the one that put her in in the first place) She slid out and scraped her nose and forehead on the ground. It was the saddest thing, she is such an angel and I felt so terrible.

The girls came home to a nice warm bath and matching jammies (they all happened to have them)

 Saturday we went to Idaho Springs for some Tommyknocker's and "shopping" in the little shops, then drove to Central City and Blackhawk. Weirdest little towns ever.  Just a bunch of casino's in these little mining towns. It was crazy but really cool and looked so pretty

All three of the girls were perfect, even though they were dragged around town literally all day

 

Never without her dressups!

 Thanks so much for coming, we had the best time having you and miss your company already. It's nice to have such good friends that will leave their families on Thanksgiving to come spend it with you. Vienna has been such an amazing friend to me over and I don't know what I would do without her! She is amazing, is always there for me, to listen to my drama or give me good advice, help me with projects and we've kept in touch better than any of my friends.  Rob is always good for a laugh, and I consider him a good friend of mine as well, and miss Nolie, she is darling and hilarious and such a little sweetie. Miss you guys, come again soon! (Or get a job here!)

I have given this a lot of thought and this is my last post. I don't know if it will be my last post ever, or just for a while. There are many reasons why I've made this decision and I won't go into detail, but I just feel that for right now it's what I need to do, whether it's stopping completely or taking a break. I don't want to go private (although I will in one week but won't invite anyone) because I know I'll just go back. I have loved blogging, I love that people can "keep in touch" with me this way and our families can "see" the girls. I will miss that but I will find other ways.

5 years of blogging will be hard to stop! I'm hoping to be done for good and keep up on it privately JUST for my records. I've always said I blog for myself, now it will be true. I will continue to use Facebook and post pictures of us on there from time to time.  I am writing this because I don't want to just suddenly stop posting, or go private and leave everyone hanging. Because I have SUCH a huge following :) 
Thanks for all the comments and visits over the years. We love you all!