Thanksgiving Whirlwind

What a whirlwind four days, but it’s so worth it. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. In part because it celebrates the simplicity in life – giving thanks, family, tasty food and football. Thanksgiving also lacks the large production aspect of other holidays, which is why I enjoy it so. It hasn’t been commandeered by retailers. It’s about gathering with your nearest and dearest.

We kicked off Thanksgiving weekend with dinner with the Davis clan in Rock Port and then we drove up to Sioux City where we stayed until Saturday morning when we headed to Omaha for the annual McManigal Thanksgiving at my aunt’s house. (Of course, we spent 6 hours Friday morning shopping with the rest of the crazy people, but that’s another post.)

Ella is a social butterfly. I was worried how Ella would handle our grand tour and all the different faces. Overall, she was a champ and what a social, independent, on-the-go child we have. At the McManigal Thanksgiving, she was checking out everyone and in a house filled with 40 people (20 of which are kids of every age) Ella fit in quite well. She embraced the fact that everyone seemed new and just went with the flow. She didn’t mind who picked her up, although she was partial to my cousin Christy. She also refused to stop. The Energzier bunny could take a lesson from her. There were too many people to meet, too many areas to explore and countless laps to make through the house. I suspect the goal of the numerous laps was to find Gracie, her new favorite friend. Gracie, a 14-year-old Golden Retriever, let Ella nuzzle with her, pull her ears and even ended up in an Ella headlock. I believe that a puppy will be top of Ella’s Christmas list once she is old enough to speak. Her face literally lights up the instant she sees any animal, particularly dogs. It’s so precious and oh so sweet.

We left with one kid and came back with another. It’s amazing in four days how much older she seems. She definitely has become more vocal, and she also is communicating more by pointing to things. Her favorite noise lately is that of jingle bells. We hung a jingle bell wreath on the door of our coat closet. Before we placed in there, we let Ella shake it for a bit. Now, anytime you walk in the living room, she’s pointing up to the wreath indicating she wants to play with it.

I’ll try and get some new pictures posted from this weekend. We took plenty and with all the upcoming Christmas events, we will only be taking more.