A Big Trip

We made our big holiday trip over Thanksgiving this year...going to Atlanta, Chattanooga and Virginia.  It was so great to see so many friends and family, but boy were we thankful to not be in the car anymore when we got home Saturday.  :)

Our first stop in ATL with Slade & Jess...some fun playtime and love from Tyde :)

Next stop...Chattanooga.  And a first for our Bug...facing forward in her carseat!  Though we had planned to keep her backwards a little longer than we did the others per the current recommendations, even the first short leg of our trip was tough and we gave in.

Spotting the movie screen :)

She's one of the bigs now...

Apparently she just doesn't love the carseat.  Facing backwards or forwards.  :(  It was her naptime and she didn't know what to do with herself...she threw down pacis and her blanket the first several times we tried giving them to her.  Poor baby bug.

Finally, peaceful rest (for all of us!)...

So great to land for a couple of days there at the Coopers'.  It really does feel like home...so casual and easy.  We love visiting with R&E and we see very little of the kids since they are off playing from the minute we get there!  So love their family.  :)

Another reason it feels so much like home in Chattanooga is that it resembles our life a few years ago here.  Including the Coopers, four couples from our old SS class that we love and "did life" with during those early years in our marriage, now live in Chatt.  They are those lifetime friendships that don't fade with distance or time.  So even though it is a little different since there are now 14 (and 1/2!) kids added to this crew, it's so fun when we can get together!

Some Owens, Carpenters, Clantons, Coopers and Masseys... 

Kelli brought supplies for the kids to make Thanksgiving cookies.  It was so cute and fun!

Mamas and babies (minus the kids that were in school that day)...

A seriously cute bunch of babies...Garner, Griffin, Callie & Luke

And the cute big boys...so crazy to think back to their first pic together when Gehr was a newborn and Clay was 3mos old.  It feel like we're going to wake up tomorrow and have this pose of them as teenagers.  So love that they are such good buddies :)

And our roomie this week.  I never get to see her sleep until we travel and I could just watch her forever...

We also got to see Britt and Margaret for a quick lunch as they came through Chattanooga on their way to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.  SO so fun to love on Marg's baby bump!  She is super cute preggo and we are thrilled for them!

Looking pretty natural with laps full of kids :)

Holding 2 babies :)

And back on the road to our last stop before home...Virginia!

In the hotel there...I love them.

Fun family time at the park...such a beautiful place and a beautiful day!  Our entire group in VA for Thanksgiving totaled around 85, but this was just the smaller extended family consisting of B's mom's siblings and families...

Walking to lunch in super-cute downtown Lexington

Greer caught a ride with Uncle Clark :)

I'm so thankful Mammaw got some cute pictures of the kids having a blast with the family at Granny's house with the whole Thanksgiving bunch.  At the band party on Friday night, Greer loved dancing and singing and playing with some girl cousins.  Gehr enjoyed his time with the guys too.  And Garner stayed close to Mama and Dada.  :)  So cute to watch them making some of the same memories that B has from his childhood!

Dancing in the barn...

See the little girl in pink?  B and I were still in the house...she was good to go on her own!  :)

V is for Virginia...cheetos art :)

But of everything, my favorite part of the week may have been our annual Giving Thanks game we play on the trip to Virginia.  We usually go through the alphabet with each person taking a letter and saying something that starts with that letter that they are thankful for.  This year, Gehr wanted us to all do every letter.  It was the sweetest thing.  If there could be a winner of this game, I think it would've been Greer, who kept coming up with great things that she is thankful for, all on her own.  I'm sad that I didn't record them all, but some of hers were help, iPod (haha), kisses, love and even rhombus!  She followed that last one up with "you know, it's like the same thing as a diamond."  Wow.

We are indeed tremendously thankful for the impossible-to-count (but great to try to) blessings that God has given us...even the ones that aren't easy blessings.  My new favorite book is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Check it out for a new view on giving thanks.  I've started keeping a journal of the many things in a day that I want to whisper thanks for.  It's overwhelming to realize all the little ways He shows His love for us.  At Thanksgiving and all-year-round.

One last pic from our football-obsessed boy... this is how Gehr kept busy on the 6-7hr ride home...

Add that cuteness to the journal... :)