Thanksgiving Weekend

Since Ben had the whole weekend off, we tried to plan fun activities for each day. It went something like this:

Friday morning we had breakfast with a new family in our ward, the Leland's. The food was delicious and it was fun to get to know them better. We then went to cut down our Christmas tree. There are multiple tree farms in our area, but we went to the same one we went to last year. Turns out it's owned by a Mormon family in a neighboring ward. It was kind of a fun connection to make.

My woodsman. He loves this.

We opted for a small tree to put up high out of Teddy's reach.  We then loaded it into the trunk of the car and headed for home. As we drove, however, we saw that a antique store/farm was open. Of course we had to go. What better thing to do on Black Friday? :)

The woman who owned the farm had turned all the old buildings into part of her shop. This was once a potting shed.

Then as luck would have it, it turned out the woman also bred and raised miniature donkeys. Nayeli was ecstatic. In fact, she asked for a donkey as a pet for a few days after.

Arent' they adorable? I'll admit I was smitten as well.

Later we drove home to put up the tree and begin to decorate the house. It was a gloriously relaxing Black Friday. Just the kind we like.

Saturday we took Nayeli to another farm nearby that was also giving tours of it's animals. She is really into animals right now- even more so than dolls or princesses. She has asked multiple times for a dog or cat but I keep telling her we'll talk about it when we get a house. Maybe the phase will have passed by then, right? :)

In the afternoon we did a little shopping for some necessary family items. Then that night we met our friends the Clarks at a bouldering gym. It's a great place for kids- they have walls that you can climb up and then get down on a slide. Nayeli was in heaven. Plus she was with her best friend Audra. They are two peas in a pod. It's so fun to see them play together.

Audra and Nayeli

Ben was loving it as well.

Sunday we relaxed, went to church, and then finished decorating the Christmas tree. We also made paper snowflakes. Ben taught me to make them from coffee filters, which is much easier. It was such a great time to reconnect as a family and have some downtime. There is nobody I would rather be with than Ben and my kids. They are wonderful.

Our tree, complete with ornaments from my childhood and some purchased on trips we've taken as a couple. We've also started the tradition of getting an ornament for each child each year.

Let Christmas arrive!