Okay, so maybe not the first Thanksgiving, but our first Thanksgiving in our new home and our first time hosting Thanksgiving. What we thought was going to be a quiet night for just the three of us ended up as us hosting a dinner party for nine! Yes, we did know about all of the guests before I did the grocery shopping, and yes, they were all invited. :) Before I get into details, we want to apologize to all the family members we just didn't get to call on Thanksgiving. Please know that you were in our thoughts and prayers. We were just incredibly busy with our hosting responsibilities! While I admit I was a little nervous about our first venture into hosting a large group for a holiday, it was really great. One of the things we've looked forward to most about our new home is the ability to entertain; we simply didn't have the space to really do that in Redmond. We really enjoyed our evening with friends and family, and while washing dishes that night we were already planning when we could do it again! One of the big highlights of the evening for me was getting to use my grandmother's china for the first time. I have to share a photo of my table despite the fact that the photo itself didn't turn out very well; I know I didn't do anything exceptional, but I was excited about how nice the table actually looked since I've never hosted a somewhat formal dinner before. 
It was such a treat setting the table and thinking of G-Ma (my nickname for my grandmother) watching over me while I did it. We'll end this post with a photo of Eli's playroom...this is what it looked like after I started cleaning up and thought to grab the camera. 
Here's the kicker - just two little munchkins made this whole mess! Needless to say, Eli and his friend Evelyne had a fun evening!
It was such a treat setting the table and thinking of G-Ma (my nickname for my grandmother) watching over me while I did it. We'll end this post with a photo of Eli's playroom...this is what it looked like after I started cleaning up and thought to grab the camera. Here's the kicker - just two little munchkins made this whole mess! Needless to say, Eli and his friend Evelyne had a fun evening! Finally, a little gratitude...We are so very thankful for our family, immediate and extended, both those who are still with us and those who've gone home to be with the Lord, and certainly for our new little one on the way. We are so grateful for our new home, our health, our friends, our church, Ryan's job, and all of the innumerable, immeasurable blessings we enjoy. We truly have such a blessed life - thank you Lord!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
A few days later Eli got a long-overdue haircut, and boy does he look like Dada now! Anytime he loses his curls, you can really see the resemblance (especially those of you who knew Ryan at this age!). 
As you can see, he took his job very seriously, with all of the appropriate equipment. 
I think a lot of us will be surprised if this boy doesn't go into construction when he grows up! :)
and chasing the birds after the meet! 
Cograts girls (and awesome coaches)! By the way, Ryan's the guy you can hardly see, fourth from the right. :)
Eli had another great Halloween. As you've read, he was really excited about his Thomas costume! We enjoyed spending the evening with our friends Brooke and Jeff and their kiddos. They invited us over for a yummy dinner and then trick-or-treating in their very kid-friendly neighborhood. 
Eli and Grace had a great time together, and collected a lot of goodies! Grace was great at saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" at each house...Eli, not so much. :) He was too shy to say trick-or-treat, and then was so amazed by all the candy that as much as we prompted him to say thank you, all he could manage (at every single house) was, "there's a lot of treats in your bucket!" (Yes, he still says "you" when he means "me"). :) 
Eli also had his first candy that night. Not his first sugar, by any means, and yes, he's had sprinkles on cookies, etc. But this was his first real "candy." After trick-or-treating we all hung out for awhile at Brooke and Jeff's house. Eli was happily playing with Grace's toys when she went and got his treat bucket for him, pulled out a little pack of M&Ms and said, "here Eli!" Suddenly Eli realized there was more to this trick-or-treating thing than just obtaining the treats. :) He thoroughly enjoyed the half-dozen M&Ms that I gave him, and fortunatley completely forgot about the treats after that! :) 
However, once we opened up the pumpkin and starting pulling out the gushy stuff, Eli was done being involved! :) He had no interest in touching the weird stuff or the seeds, no matter how cool we said it was. He did want to hold the little pieces of pumpkin once we started cutting out they eyes, etc. Afterward, Ryan roasted the pumpkin seeds, and they were so good that we decided we should do the whole thing again (okay, that and the fact that we had hoped for a more sensory experience for Eli). :) So, off we went to Fred Meyer to buy yet another pumpkin! Again, Eli chose the face and we went to work. This time, however, he was really into the whole experience. He wanted to pick seeds from the gushy middle, play with the seeds, and touch everything. 
He really had a lot of fun with this one. Sadly, the pumpkin seeds weren't quite as yummy, but it was well worth it for the fun Eli had.
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