The Day After Thanksgiving

We had a fun "Black Friday," although there was definitely no getting up at 4 am to go shopping! We headed over to the Hines' around 11:30 and had a wonderful lunch of leftovers, and then we just hung out, played more games, etc. Tracy, Kirsti, my mom, Kate & I headed over to the mall around 7 (PM, not AM) and it was actually very calm. I found Kate's Christmas dress, and my mom, of course, could not resist buying some things for her granddaughter.


The two purple girls...

Kate's First Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving--Kate's first! We had a little breakfast in the morning, and my mom, Tracy and the girls came over to enjoy some fresh fruit, Quiche Lorraine, gingerbread cake, coffee and juice. Gail, Dan's mom, was here too, and I'm so glad that Kate's two grandmothers were able to spend her first Thanksgiving with her.

Then we headed over to Tracy & Dan's, and the food was AMAZING (as always). We had the traditional turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie, etc.; so good! It was our group (Dan, Kate, Gail & me), as well as my mom, Dan Hines' mom, dad and dad's wife, my grandparents and then of course the Hines (seeing as it is their house).

After dinner, we had fun relaxing and playing games (Clue and Euchre, anyone?) and then enjoying more leftovers!


Kate's shirt says "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving," although you can't really see it in this shot


At our house for the Thanksgiving breakfast; Kirsti's trying to corral Kate, haha.


Grandma and Kate at the Hines' house


Kate & Nana








Love the bib!




L-R: Me, Kirsti, Kate, Grandma, Tracy, Rori, my mom, Grandpa


Kate & Great-Grandma




Why am I the only one looking at the camera?


Our little family




Dan and his twin. Oh yeah, and his mom, mother-in-law, and wife, too.




I love her outfit; from my mom, naturally!




Yum, sweet potatoes! And yes, she is thankful for Daddy


Tuckered out after a big holiday

California

On November 18, we went to San Jose, California for a very sad occasion; my uncle Alan's memorial service. Alan, my mom's older brother, died of cancer on November 4, and while it was nice to have most of the family together for his service, I wish it had been for a much happier reason, and that Alan would have still been with us. We all miss him so much already, and it's hard to think that this June was the last time we saw him. We had so much fun talking to him (and introducing him to Kate!) and it's just so strange to think that we'll never hear his laugh again or his voice. We miss you and love you, Alan!


At the Spaghetti Factory in San Jose; Tracy and I hate not having a Spaghetti Factory in Madison, so whenever we're in a town with one, we have to go. We headed there right after we got in to San Jose, and luckily my mom landed around the same time, so we were able to all meet up.


In the hallway of our hotel, the Hayes Mansion, after the family service on Friday the 19th.


Kate was not having the picture taking!


My grandma, me, Kate, my mom, Tracy, Dan, and Tracy's best friend, Kirsten, who drove down from Oregon for the service, which was so nice of her.


Karissa, Aunt Chris, Katrina, uncle Mike, and Matthew, in addition to the rest of the group.


Three generations.


Silly girl!

She loves music...

I wonder where she gets that from! (Hmmm.... Nana, Great-Aunt Tracy, the list goes on and on!) She loves playing on this LeapFrog Musical Learning Table that we got from my Aunt Chris. She happily bangs away for hours.

What a good stander!

Kate can now pull herself up to a standing position; yikes! She can hold on really well, too.

Eight and a half months

The other day, I took some photos of Kate by the bear to document her growth. I cannot believe my little girl is already eight and a half months! Where does time go? She looks adorable in her "Baby's 1st Christmas" sleeper that I got the other day at Target; I love how it has reindeer on the feet!










This bear is fun!




It's weird; normally she looks so much like Dan, but sometimes photos can capture an entirely different expression; here I think she looks like my Uncle Alan, my mom's older brother who, sadly, passed away on November 4 of this year. :(

Compare now to the other bear photos:


Seven and a half months


Six and a half months


Five months


Four months


Three months


A month and a half


Two weeks