Rob, Dave, Asher, Emmett & Avery played soccer outside on Thanksgiving day...
Video: Family Soccer
We enjoyed a holiday celebration with almost all of Eric's extended family...
 |
| Uncle Rob & Wally |
Avery warmed up quickly to Uncle Clint, Aunt Kathy and especially cousin Drew!...
We also enjoyed a delicious dinner thanks to Eric's mom (& everyone else who brought something to share)...
 |
| Thumbs Up from Avery |
Avery enjoyed hamming it up for everyone...
Video: Road Block
Avery & Olive playing Road Block with Rob, Drew & Uncle Clint
We celebrated the Fall/Winter Smiley & Migrin Birthdays...
 |
| The boys enjoyed their birthday desserts! |
Eric enjoyed teasing his cousin Kathy's daughter Veronica with some Redi-Whip...
...and Avery enjoyed trying to make Veronica laugh!...
Video: Silly Avery
Cousin Jamerson introduced the littler kids to hand-held video games. They were all VERY interested...
Side Note: I tried this FB game of typing "I stuff my turkey with" and then hitting the middle button until I got a full sentence. Below is what I posted to FB...
I tried this and got: I stuff my turkey with the kids so we don’t need them all week😂😂.I may be overtired but I cant stop laughing. ...not sure what that says about me as a mom 😂
After a fun and food filled Thanksgiving, we all headed to bed to rest up for another day ahead. For me, there really wasn't much "rest" involved, but I did get to watch the sunrise over the lake...
Later that morning, we enjoyed some relaxing family time together, and Eric and Rob continued the video game fun by joining their Nintendo Switch controllers so that all of the kids could play Mario Kart....
As lunchtime approached, Eric, his mom, the boys and I piled into the van and headed to Saline, Michigan to visit Grandma Smiley for what we were pretty sure would be the last time. Sadly it was, but we were very thankful to have one more visit with her...
That evening everyone (save me) enjoyed some more soccer fun outside...
Video: More Family Soccer
...then we warmed up with a delicious dinner of homemade turkey and gnocchi soup (using Thanksgiving leftovers) prepared by Rob, Negin, Eric's mom, Olive, Dave and Avery. Avery had a great time making the gnocchi with Uncle Dave and we now wonder if he will become a chef someday! Surprisingly, he also enjoyed EATING the gnocchi, which I would never had guessed would happen!...
...while Avery helped make dinner, Asher brushed up on his Big Brother skills...
On Saturday, it was "Go Blue Day". Michigan had their annual face-off with OSU and being that almost our entire family are Michigan alumni we made a party of it was some yummy food to watch the game. I'd like to say that that was just the beginning of the fun, but unfortunately the game went FAR from what we had hoped for and the food was pretty much the only highlight...
At halftime the game was still looking hopeful and since everyone would be heading their separate ways soon Eric and I decided to take the opportunity to share "Christmas" with his family by giving everyone their gifts from us since we would not be traveling for Christmas due to Baby M.
After dinner on Saturday night we all gathered for a family picture and then the Sturza family headed home. Originally we were not going to leave until the next morning, but since there was a snowstorm heading in our direction, we decided it would be best to leave as well. Avery was very upset that we left early and cried for about the first 45 minutes of our trip, but other than that it was smooth sailing. Almost no one was on the road and we made it home in our second best time ever!
On Sunday, we finished out the week by sharing a lazy day home together. The snow didn't start when originally predicted but did eventually come. In the afternoon, we decided have a little more family time and to take the kids to see Ralph Breaks the Internet. Avery passed out on the way there from all of the fun previously in the week, so I stayed in the car with him until right before the movie started to let him rest. Then we headed inside to join Asher and Eric for the movie.
