Giving Thanks in Shingle Springs

"Can I drive?!?! Can I drive?!?!"

These are the words I hear almost every time we get ready to leave the house.

Dominic wants to take advantage of every opportunity he can...

And Thanksgiving was no different.

Our day started off nice and leisurely as we got ready to head up to Shingle Springs (to Jeff's Aunt and Uncle's house) about 20 minutes East of Sacramento.

Well Dom did get his driving in...2 1/2 hours of lots of traffic driving...that is.

But we did finally get there. A little different than last year...last year the weather was beautiful!

Cold...but clear!

This year...a constant drizzle.

Just enough to be annoying and make me want to protect my camera lense.

The kids got to enjoy swinging from the big oak tree again!

Connor and Cale are pro's this year :)

Uncle Jeff was a good sport!

We had a lot more play time inside...

Emmy fell in love with their baby...she cried when we had to leave it behind :(

Aunt Becki got in on some play time too.

Yeah!! Back outside!

We lasted for a while outside until Emma Kate stepped right out of her rain boot and insisted on walking around outside in the rain...in her soggy socks. Not happening!

So inside for hot apple cider and dry socks we went!

Brother and sister...LOVE this pic! 

Dom and "Bunga..."

(Check out Dom's haircut!!)

One of the coolest parts about Thanksgiving this year was that the kids and I got to meet Jeff's Aunt Anne (Mary's sister.)

Aunt Anne lives in England and even Jeff hasn't even seen her in over 20 years.

We got a call several weeks ago informing us that she and her husband were going to be joining us this year for Thanksgiving.

It was quite interesting to meet her and see Mary with her sister.

I was surprised to see that they look very much alike!

(Any pictures I have ever seen of her are from many many years ago.)

Here's a picture of my MIL with her brother and sister...

It's interesting how the Holy Spirit moves through us...

Even though this was our year (in rotation) to spend with my family, I really felt compelled to mix it up and spend another year with Jeff's...this was long before finding out that Aunt Anne was coming.

And as it turns out, if we would have gone with the norm...we would have totally missed out on meeting her.

Who knows if we'll ever get to see her again...

However, thoughts of a trip to Europe are swirling in my mind...hmmm...

Overall it was a really nice day...filled with some gritted teeth on the road, lots of family, good food, and

yummm...lots of pie!

So much to be thankful for.