Thanksgiving in KS - Saturday

This morning Mike and I packed up the car while Grammy and Mark supervised the boys painting their handprints on Grammy's tablecloth (a tradition). 

Grammy with her 3 grandsons:  Jayden, Brody, & Barrett

 

About 10 minutes after I took this picture Barrett started complaining about his tummy hurting (not a good thing considering the fact that Jayden had been sick...coming out both ends!)  I sat in the kitchen with him on my lap and before long....yep...throw up.  All over the kitchen floor...then several times outside with Mike!  This all took place 5 minutes before we planned on putting the kids in the car and driving back to Texas!  We took a little extra time...waiting to see if he'd get sick again.  He looked so tired that we finally decided to hit the road in hopes that he'd sleep for a while and not get sick again!  I don't do so well with throw up (I was gagging in the kitchen when he threw up while sitting in my lap), so Mike rode in the back with the boys and I drove all the way home.  Since Barrett threw up 3 more times in the car, none of us really felt much like stopping to get dinner.  We grabbed a few snacks at one of the gas stops and kept on trekking.  That was the fastest we've ever made the trip with the boys in tow!  Once we got home, Barrett had the runs but didn't throw up again.  I can't say the same for Mike...he's sick tonight.  We're praying the bug doesn't attack me or Brody! 

*Edit*  Brody and I both avoided the worst part of the stomach bug (throw up).  Whew!

Even though the trip ended on a sour note, it was worth it.  We had so much fun and made so many memories!  Now it's time to get out the Christmas tree!!!

Thanksgiving in KS - Friday

Today the boys woke up asking Uncle LH to go see some tractors.  LH farms a lot of ground around Plains and has plenty of farm equipment to entertain the boys for hours!  I think they climbed on every piece of machinery in his shop from tractors to combines to four wheelers to bobcats!  They were in tractor heaven!

 

Brody thought it was so cool to get to ride up front between Uncle LH and Uncle Ron.  (Notice the temp says 20 degrees.  Brrrrrr!)

LH stopped to show us some of his bales of cotton.  He told Brody he could take some home with him, so he was stuffing his pockets with cotton!

Our Thanksgiving family picture :)

 

When we got back to Uncle LH's house, Brody was ready to play baseball.  (Rain, sleet, snow, or shine....Brody ALWAYS wants to play baseball!)

I turned around to find Barrett creating his own fun!  No one was paying attention to the fact that he was climbing up the porch behind them!

Around lunch time we headed back to St. John.  Have you ever seen a wind farm?  I think they're so neat!  Here's a picture out the window of the car as we drove by...

 

Back in St. John, Mike and Nancy got to work cookin' a turkey for yet another feast!  Tonight we had Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma K's house.

The boys sat waiting somewhat patiently.  (Notice Jayden doesn't look so good.  He was sick the whole Thanksgiving vacation.  Poor guy!)

After a delicious dinner at Grandma K's it was time to watch the Kansas Jayhawks basketball game.  Grandma was all decked out in her KU gear and had the tv on in both the den and the kitchen so she didn't miss any of the action!

I didn't get a picture of her with all the great-grands, but I did get one of her with Brody.  He asked me to take a pic of him and Grandma and she was happy to pose with him.  So cute!

  

It was late when we got back to Grammy's house tonight, so we put the kids in bed, did a little laundry, and then headed to bed ourselves.  Tomorrow's the loooong drive home.

Thanksgiving in KS - Thursday

It's THANKSGIVING DAY!!!!  Keeping with tradition, we spent Thanksgiving Day with family at Uncle LH and Aunt Thais's house.  When we got married, Heidi was maybe 5 years old?  Now she's a senior in HS and spent the morning playing baseball with our 4 year old (who absolutely adores her!)

I think Barrett's thinking was more in line with mine....."IT'S COLD!!!!"  The high today was 32 degrees...so we didn't stay outside for very long.

The temperature in LH's garage is a different story.  He has his detached garage so well insulated that even though it was 11 degrees outside...it was still a balmy 62 inside the garage!  He let the boys spend some time "going for a drive" (pretend) in his Corvette.

Before too long we headed back inside to snack (we always seem to snack most of the day...at least until it's time for the big feast).  Brody and Kelly were having a race to see who could eat all the M&M's out of the snack mix.

 

I'm definitely not a food photographer...but don't these pies look yummy?!?!

2010 Thanksgiving family picture
Front row: Kelly, Brody, Grandma B, Grandpa B, Barrett
Middle row:  Heidi, Thais, Holly, Angela, Jayden, Grammy, Staci
Back row:  Cherie, LH, Mark, Ron, & Mike

Grandma & Grandpa with their 3 great-grandsons

Grandma & Grandpa B  (Grandpa decided to stop shaving this year.  It makes him look like a mountain man! lol)

 

Grandma asked for a kiss...

and Grandpa gave some smart remark instead...

After we finished cleaning up from the feast, I went downstairs to find Brody sitting on the couch by Heidi (surprise, surprise).  Thais said that she'd been sitting by Heidi and Brody asked her to move over because he couldn't fit between Thais and Heidi and he needed to sit by Heidi!  (Did I mention this morning Brody ate breakfast, got dressed, and then sat outside Heidi's door waiting for her to get up and get dressed?  He and Barrett sat there Indian style just staring at the door for the longest time.  It was hilarious!)

Before bed Mark read a few books to the boys.  What a great way to end a fun day!

 

Thanksgiving in KS - Wednesday

This morning Collin went hunting with Mike and Chris while the younger boys went on their own hunt.  Hans and Alan grabbed a few BB guns and took Brody outside to shoot at cans.  They also walked around for a while looking for birds to shoot.  They were successful in killing cans...but not birds.  When they got cold we loaded up our car and headed to town.  It has become a tradition for Teri and I to take the kids to Broadway Market in Sterling for coffee/hot cocoa while we're there for Thanksgiving.  Yummmmmm!  Barrett was excited to get hot chocolate!

The barista even put sprinkles on our whip cream!  (As if there wasn't enough sugar in the hot cocoa! lol)  It made the children smile!!!

Teri & me at the coffee shop. 

Next stop was Dillons.  Teri had a few dishes she needed to make for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  I miss the 5 aisle grocery store.  It's so easy to find stuff there!  Alan entertained Barrett by making 2 of the aisles into a Nascar racetrack.  We had to keep reminding him that he needed to stay by Teri so she could actually use the basket! 

 

After lunch I found Brody and Collin in the hall playing with hunting action figures.  I have to stop here and say that Collin was amazing with our boys.  He never complained about playing with them or showing them how to do stuff.  He volunteered to play with the action figures with Brody and even volunteered to take him "hunting" with the BB guns!  I think he made Brody wish he had a big brother.  Not many guys Collins age would be this sweet with the little guys.  It was so fun to watch them together!

Brody with one of the pheasants Mike shot.   (He's holding a BB gun.)

I followed Collin and Brody this afternoon as they took off towards the railroad tracks to look for birds.

Hans went with them, but he he went the opposite direction to try to push the birds down towards Brody & Collin.

 

One happy 4 year old!

 

Love this!  This was his reaction one time after shooting the BB gun!  Priceless!!!

One not so happy 4 year old.  This is what he looked like the ENTIRE ride from Sterling to Grammy's house.  He cried, "I DO NOT WANT TO GO!" the whole way!  He had sooooo much fun with Chris & Teri's kids and he did not want to leave!  Mike told him, "I know how you feel, buddy.  I don't want to go either!"

But we did have to leave.  There are fun times ahead of us though!  Tonight we'll drive with Grammy to Plains and tomorrow is Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving in KS - Tuesday

This morning I walked into the kitchen at Grammy's house and looked out the window to see this.....

Mike was quick to tell me that it wasn't snow (it was just a heavy frost), but it still looked really pretty!  They boys were excited because Grammy made biscuits and gravy for breakfast (their favorite)!

After breakfast, we packed up an overnight bag and headed back to Chris & Teri's house for some more hunting/time with friends.  A few times along the way I had Mike pull over so I could take some pictures.  The fields looked so cool with all the frost!

 

After lunch Brody was ready to play outside.  Teri volunteered to take him out to play baseball.  They played for awhile but finally had to come back inside because the wind was too cold!

Mike and Chris stopped by the house mid afternoon and Brody was happy to see that they'd gotten a few birds!  He posed on the porch with one of the pheasants and asked me to take his picture.

Then he watched every second of Mike and Chris cleaning the birds.

 

Not long after the kids got home from school, Tina (one of my friends who lives in Lyons) called to say that she was home if I wanted to stop by for a visit.  Since Chris & Teri's kids were home from school, Brody and Barrett didn't want to go sit at Tina's house and visit...they wanted to PLAY!  Even Barrett (fresh from a nap...which usually means "don't put me down Mommy" time) wanted to go on a walk with Teri and the kids rather than go with me!  Teri took the kids on a walk down the railroad tracks.  She said they had fun!

I had fun catching up with Tina and then I stopped by the rec commission and met Bret (an employee that was hired after I left).  I still do the books for the rec commission and was able to fix a payroll issue while I was there.  I think that makes our trip a business trip ;)  I picked up pizza at Gambino's on my way back to Chris & Teri's and then we spent the night just hanging out and talking.  It was fun to catch up with some dear friends.