A very Bundy Thanksgiving

Our first night in Oregon was spent partying with the whole fam.   16 of us went out to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and then another group of  7 joined us back at the house for a great game night of signs and the name game.  Very fun way to start our visit and we really appreciate everyone's efforts in coming out to see us.

 

Saturday Emma and I went to see the Bundy girls have a dance performance.  I was so happy to have the chance since we miss all of their recitals and competitions.  Later that afternoon Ryan, Julie and I enjoyed Sushi and then more games with the family that night.

We were sooooo lucky to have such a beautiful day at the beach.  The weather was perfect, for the Oregon Coast anyways.  We had no wind and blue skies, nothing could be better.

We had lunch at Pizza A' Fetta and then enjoyed the tide pools at Haystack, feeding the birds, and hot chocolate at bella espresso.  A PERFECT day in my book. The girls collected sand dollars and I let them each buy a sea shell and a post card.  Julie and her boyfriend Scott joined us in the adventure and it was great to have them to ourselves.

Greg and Becky invited the whole famdamily to their house to watch "the civil war" game of Ducks vs. Beavers.  We had yummy food and I made the first of many batches to come of Christmas Wreaths.

Lydia is SUCH a little DIVA!  It's borderline cute, but also a little exhausting.  Playing at the Bundy girl's house is her dream haven for dress up and all things girly.

It's been so fun watching Emma have some girl cousins to play with.  They love teaching her dances and she is just a sponge soaking up all their awesomeness.

I was very thankful I had a chance to go spend the night at my sister Stacey's house.  Emma had a blast running around with the Lake cousins who she hasn't seen in a long time.  Stacey and I ran errands and had a great time chatting, as always.

 We went out to Greg and Becky's and they took us out for pizza and then we came back and I did all the little girl's hair.  We waited until midnight for Kiersten's song to be played on the radio for the first time.  How IN-CRED-IBLE to be 13 years old and have your song played for all to hear!  It was really fun to be apart of that memory and celebration with them.

 We had Thanksgiving at the church around the corner.  It was soooo fun to be together all day long and have such YUMMY, YUMMY food.  I didn't do too well with taking photos of each table, but I tried my best.  There was 30 of us all together and we were missing 3 family members.  It's so fun to be part of such a large family.

 We played the word game, dodge ball, wall ball, and four square. 

I didn't see Lydia or Emma the entire day, it was lovely.  The cousins take such great care of my girls and it totally shows on Lydia's face how much she loves them.  Notice the black and white photo.....ummmm, Emma looks more like her Bundy cousins than me and my own sisters look alike!

My birthday was actually pretty great this year.  Greg and Becky kept our girls so we could go to Thai food with Margo, Clay and Julie.  It was delicious and I loved the company.  Then later that night Margo and Julie watched our girls so Ryan and I could have a reminiscent date back where it all started for us.  A fantastic night.

I do have to give a special mention about this little niece of mine here.  Kiersten and I share the same birthday.  Back when I turned 17 Ryan brought me a dozen red roses, took me to Olive Garden, and gave me a nice piece of jewelery.  Then on our way home we stopped by the hospital to see his new niece.  The whole family was there and I just remember thinking to myself that I wanted to be apart of this family.  Then that night was the first time we both said I love you.  Sappy little story, but Kiersten just holds the sweetest memory of how my marriage truly began.

So in celebration of  our birthdays, just K and I went to the Washington Square mall at midnight.  I was SHOCKED to see how crowded it was.  It truly was INSANE!!  People were buying pizza and Panda Express at 2 a.m.  We did buy ourselves a fresh, hot cinnabon and devoured it. We were there until 3:30 a.m. and I scored a trunk full of deals for Christmas morning.  Then we went back to K's house and I slept on her trundle bed.  I was so tickled to spend the first part of my 31st birthday having a slumber party.

Another highlight of our trip was going to the Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree.  This is the ultimate NW Christmas tradition.  These trees were anywhere form $20-$40!!  The tree lots in Utah are a JOKE!

Emma was delighted with the whole concept, and Lydia was just plum tuckered out.

Sunday I took photos of these two little nieces.  It was pouring rain (what's new) but we still made an adventure out of it.  These girls can't take a bad photo, so they made my job totally easy.
At night Margo made Ryan's favorite meal.  We ended the night with more Christmas wreaths and a few rounds of games.

We really were SOOOOOO SAD to have to come home.  This is my most favorite trip we've had since Emma has been born.  The support and love from the family just meant so much to us.  Margo and Clay are such loving parents and they really filled our cup so we can face what lies ahead.  How THANKFUL I am to have such a loving family!