Thanksgiving 2014 ~ part 1

Thanksgiving this year started off with a mini-vacation for Mom & King Dad! (Thanks Mimi & Pap!!!) The Sunday after Shannon & Brad's wedding, 11/23, Chris drove to LeRoy, IL with ALL FOUR kids and met my mom & dad who then proceeded to TAKE ALL FOUR OF THEM back to Ohio!!! :D I stayed home and blissfully started combing through the house, top to bottom, drawer after drawer... to say the least, it was heavenly. We had a 4-day/3-night vaca in our home. It. was. awesome. Chris went so far as to say, "I sure hope those girls were good so Mimi will agree to do this again!" :D  And then we drove by ourselves to Ohio on Wednesday, 11/26... the last time we did that was 10-years ago when I was pregnant with Lauren! So enough about us ;)

Donnie & Ashley agreed to let Mimi & Pap use their van to go and get the girls... here they are on their way!

And finally, a nap :)

Cousin-party-time!

Heavenly bubble-baths thanks to Mimi :)

They made individual gingerbread houses...

Even went and played at Nana's house (Ashley's mom & dad's)

And roller skating! The 2-days of school they missed... worth it :)

Chris & I arrived on Wednesday night and on Thursday morning, Ashley & Carrie picked me up and we went to the Turkey Trot in Cincinnati again this year!

I was proud of myself, I remembered to bring a coat to donate to the Goodwill Drive. Genius idea... wear it to stay warm before the race, and then donate as you take off!

It was cold. Colder than I thought it was going to be... damp & windy.

And the people!! 14,000 ... amazing.

Unfortunately I can't remember her name, it's Carrie's friend... we basically ran it together. And it didn't matter how many people we passed... there was always 100's of people in front of us. It's just amazing.

I truly love the course, you go over 4 bridges and the Cincinnati skyline is so pretty... it's a really fun race.

Came home, jumped in the shower and headed over to Aunt Julie & Uncle John's house for Thanksgiving dinner...

Love this pic of Jayne & Lori

Connie, Jayne & Lori

Classic Randy & Donnie expressions :)

I love it :) sorry Mom

Ice...

for Queen Elsa ;)

2 options for you mom :)

solving the world's problems ;)

Gathering to say grace... isn't Julie's new kitchen gorgeous?!

Host/hostess with the mostess :)

The feast! And it is... I feel so fortunate that our family cooks a traditional yet gourmet meal for the holidays... it is always so good.

A trip down to the park!

It had started to snow! Cold outside but tried for a Koontz family pic...

Back inside getting ready to leave... so much fun!

Headed over to Don & Ash's for a few hours after we left to give Mimi & Pap a few hours of peace & quiet ;) I'd call it a fantastic Thanksgiving Day!