The F Troop: Thanksgiving Update

To be honest... I didn't think I would ever get this post written! Thank goodness for a Boppy and tummy time. The boys are currently content so let's see how fast I can type!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure had a lot to be thankful for this year. The two rascals were at the top of our list. For the holiday we traveled to Texas to be with my family. It was a great trip. The boys were excellent. The slept the entire car trip there and back. We stopped every three hours to change and feed them. We also broke the trip up into two days. We drove to Dallas the first night and then went on to Mamaw's house the next day. This made it a lot easier. The hardest part of the trip was packing! The car was stuffed to the max. I don't think I need to list all that we took... just imagine two of EVERYTHING!

Our visit with the family was just what I needed. I believe that there were 34 Cooks at Mamaw's house for Thanksgiving! I don't think the boys were put down for more than five minutes. My cousin Marcy made a surprise visit from Florida. It was awesome to see her and her three BEAUTIFUL kiddos. We were all sitting down for dinner when she got to the house. She walked in the door and I thought Mamaw was going to choke on her food!

Me and Cheyenne. Beautiful little girl!

Cheyenne feeding Anderson

Tucker was so proud. He fed, burped, and put Fletch to sleep!

It has been really tough on Mamaw since Papaw has been put in the nursing home. This time together was just what she needed. It was so great to see her smile so much. Just kills me to have her unhappy. I guess that is just how it feels when you love someone so much. When they hurt you hurt. This was a hard Thanksgiving for me too. Papaw is, and always has been such a big part of my life. It was heartbreaking to not have him with us. It was also very hard to see him in the nursing home. He didn't remember me... which I expected, but he did smile when Mamaw said my name. I think he knows "Stephanie" just not the big grown "Stephanie". He still thinks of me as a tiny tot with crazy blonde curly hair. He didn't know who the boys belonged to but he loved playing with them and holding them. The entire family was there and he payed more attention to the babies than anyone else! He would let them hold his fingers and kept talking to them. That was so good to see. I took as many pictures as I could!

Mamaw and her great-great-gran.

Papaw and his great-great-gran!

Six generations!

I did realize for the first time how hard the holidays can be for people. It isn't always fun and cheery attitudes. The holidays can also me a time of sadness. I'm glad that I am more aware of that. Hopefully it will help me to be more aware and caring to those who have trouble during this time of year. All I have to say is we better all count our blessings and be mighty thankful for the people in our lives. Things happen fast.

I loved watching my Mamaw hold the babies. She would just sit and look at them. It was so heartwarming. Hard to believe that they are her great-great-grans! My grandpa got to meet the boys too. It is even harder to believe that he is a great grandfather! I hope that even though we are far away, they will have a good relationship with him. Great grandpas are something special.

After our visit in Crockett with loaded up and drove down to Houston. We stayed the night with Dad on Friday and then got up early Saturday to swing by and see my Grandma Fay and Grandpa Joe . My Uncle Billy and his family were there along with my Aunt Colleen and her kiddos. Uncle Brandon and his wife were down from Dallas as well. We had a nice brunch and visit. After our visit we loaded back up and traveled to Dallas for the night. Anyone that knows us knows we can't go to Dallas without a stop by IKEA! Unfortunately, we couldn't really get much since the car was already loaded to the max. We did manage to get enough to fill up the floorboards though!