Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was intimate, but was great as always. No family came into town so it was Ethan's parents, Jessica and Eric, and us. We all pitched in for dinner and it was a success! Eric was in charge of the turkey this year, and it was probably the first time I've ever liked the turkey! The flavor was great, and it was not dry at all. I was in charge of the rolls and they were well loved by everyone! I was also in charge of the finger Jell-O and vegetables.

After dinner, we enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We have a ridiculous amount of leaves that fall here.

Little miss Ruby

My favorite person, whom I love dearly.

Pa is definitely their favorite person.

We were throwing leaves and letting the boys play, and I think we captured some true joy in these boys!

I love Thanksgiving and for the spirit of gratitude it brings with it. My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is decided what I'm most grateful for. This year I've decided it's my relationship I have with my Heavenly Father, who knows me and understands exactly what I need, and is always there to comfort me when I need it the most. And of course, I'm always thankful for my little family. 

Moncks Corner, South Carolina

We took a weekend trip down to the outskirts of Moncks Corner to see Ethan's grandma. I had never been down there before, so I was excited to see how much of the boonies it really is. Every time I've heard stories about this place, I envision living in the middle of nowhere surrounded by swamps and gators. I was right in thinking it was the middle of nowhere, and there were some swampy areas nearby, but I never did see any gators.

We got in pretty on Friday night and left after church, so the only full day we had to do anything was on Saturday, so we made sure to pack it full. We started off by going to Dwayne's cousin Mark's house. We shot some guns, saw some horses, and Nixon had a grand ole' time having land as far as he could see to run around and push his little car.

I think he may have been most excited about getting on a real horse. In fact he was so excited, he was mad when we tried to get him off.

He wasn't even coerced into giving the horse hugs and loves.

On our way home, we stopped by the Francis Marion National Forest and saw a natural flowing well. Dwayne said it has been running for as long as he can remember. You can literally drink right from it and it's great!

We also made our way to Mepkin Abbey. It's a Roman Catholic monastery and the area is beautiful! People hold weddings there, families take pictures there and others come to enjoy the carvings there. This is the driveway in. These trees are some of my favorite things here in the south.

This carving is of Mary and Joseph on their journey to Bethlehem. All of it was done with a chainsaw. Isn't it incredible? 

We decided to get a couple pictures as well. Four generations: Eunice, Dwayne, Ethan, Nixon

The lighting was beautiful! I could have took pictures there forever!

We had such a great time in South Carolina, and I hope to be able to go again!

Park date

There are some awesome little parks around our area, so we took one afternoon and took Nixon out to play at the park. He LOVED it! His favorite part? Throwing the acorns into the water. We literally had to pull him away from the water.

A sweet moment

Last night Nixon was having a hard time going to sleep. I was at a choir practice and didn't get home until after Ethan had put Nixon down. I decided to go in and sing to him for a couple minutes. He wasn't calming down like he usually does, so I decided to climb into his crib with him to cuddle him. He settled a bit, but was still a little fussy. I took my finger to try and feel around for his molars to see if maybe one was coming through, (he had been gnawing on his fingers most of the night). All of a sudden, he started sucking on my finger, like he used to do when he was a baby. But he realized if he just barely sucked on it and then pulled it out, it made a funny suction sound. He would start giggling, then I would start. He'd do it again, giggle even harder and louder, which made me laugh even more. This went on for a good 5 minutes, and I soaked up every second I spent with him. I know these moments will get fewer and further between, and I want to make sure that I take them all in, because these are kind of moments that remind me why I love being a mother.