Eli & Cole - two boys, one big adventure: VERY Thankful

This weekend, we headed down to the farm for an early Thanksgiving celebration. We had originally planned to go down Friday night but Eli and Cole were so tired that we could not see a 3-1/2 hour ride with them in that state. Instead we left really early Saturday morning and made it a day trip. That worked out perfectly! We pulled out of the driveway at 5:30am and I could have sworn the boys would fall back asleep. Nope, didn't happen. They looked around and chatted until we stopped for breakfast at 7am. After that, we let them watch a movie and that pretty much got us to Grandma's house. As soon as we got there, my Aunt & Uncle stopped by with my Grandma (the boys' Great Grandma). We wanted to see her while we were down so they brought her by for a little bit. It was great to see her and get good Grandma hugs (remind you, this IS "huggy Grandma"). After they left, the boys were so excited to run around and explore. I attempted to take our Christmas card picture and that kinda fell apart. I may salvage one picture that I'm not too thrilled about but it may be my only chance. Cole ended up taking a nap and Eli spent some quality time with Grandpa. They watered and fed the cows and goats and also fed the chickens. Eli did great and he wasn't nervous about the animals at all. He was right in there with them! Then we went into the barn and climbed in the hayloft - just like I used to do as a kid!! My dad deconstructed and reconstructed by Great Grandparents' barn so it really was like when I was a kid. Eli even got to use a pitch fork to throw hay down to the goats. He loved it!! After lunch, Eli took a nap and Cole got some quality time with Grandpa & Grandma. During all of this, Tim & I kinda checked out - we were just being lazy, reading and resting.

Saturday evening, we went to my Grandparents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. And boy oh boy, my Mom did not disappoint. She cooked a feast!! Turkey, dressing, country style steak, rice, green beans, mac & cheese, corn, rolls. I'm sure I missed something. And desserts......ice cream pie (thanks Aunt Val!), coconut cake, cupcakes, cookies. And who can forget green punch! It was great. The best part was that both of my brothers were there. Billy & Niki came and Jeff & Erin came with the twins. Eli & Cole were so thrilled to meet their cousins. I'm glad Jeff & Erin had two boys because now Eli & Cole think they have their own baby. It's awesome! I really enjoyed the family time and loved hanging out with my brothers. We all sat around and talked. This is the first holiday in many years that we've celebrated together and hopefully the first of many to come. Mom was in heaven with all four of her Grandchildren there - all boys!! Eli & Cole had a blast playing with Grandma outside in the dark. They carried flashlights and looked for Grandma. Kinda hide and seek in the dark. She also played the Monster and tried to get them. The loved it. We piled back in the truck and headed home, arriving just before 11pm. It was a long day but wonderful and totally worth it! The boys did great driving. One movie and then asleep on the way home.

Sunday, we went to church and then stayed home. We needed to get things settled and do home chores. I also think the boys needed the home time. They enjoyed being outside with Daddy and raking leaves for about the 50th time this year. They also had fun riding their bikes. Eli is getting really good and has his eyes on a triathlon next summer. That's my boy!

Loaded up EARLY Saturday morning - "it's too early Mom!"

Attempting breakfast - they had eaten so much driving that they barely touched breakfast. But they had fun anyway!

Eli and his Great Grandma - he loves to see how tall he is compared to everyone.

Cole, Eli and Great Grandma (Huggy Grandma!)

Eli & Grandpa were using these wood clappers to have a battle. Not sure who won but they had fun.

Eli being silly - can we say Steve Urkel? :-)

Christmas picture outtake - photos session went South REALLY fast (as in I only got one picture before Cole fell apart).

Eli the Christmas Ninja

Cole was not loving it......at all.

Watering the cows. We had to introduce Eli to the electric fence. No we didn't shock him! Grandpa used a meter to explain to him that electricity was on it.

Trying out Grandpa's new swing - a nice spot to see what's going on.

Going to feed the chickens.

Eli looks so big!

Grandpa gave him a shovel of chicken feed. Eli was supposed to throw it out a little at a time but instead thought it was fun to just throw the entire thing at one time.

This picture cracks me up. They opened the door and a cow was outside surprising Eli - you can barely see the black cow head on the left side of the picture.

Chicken boy

Climbing in the hay loft

Farmer boy with Grandpa - he loved the pitch fork

Six cows.....M-O-O-O-O!!

Shoveling some hay

and pitching it to the goats.

Grandpa gave Eli a ride in the cart.

Grandma caught Eli climbing their log house. Monkey Boy!!

Love Grandma & Grandpa!

The tractor had just baled the hay so the boys HAD to go check it out.

Grandma's sweet boy.

Building a fort with Grandpa

So cool!

Grandpa's new building - it's just like the little houses some people are buying / living in now. Tim said that one day we'll put the boys out there......or maybe ourselves to get some quiet!

I asked Eli & Cole to sit in the swing together for a picture

Of course they have to be super silly

to get to super sweet.

Love this shot of Grandpa & his boys. The boys love Grandpa and he sure loves them!

This could have been a funny conversation.

Hanging around.

My big boy. He loves farm time.

He showed me the fort they built (Grandma took the other pictures so I had not seen).

Their favorite part of the day - playing Ninja with the corn stalks. They "hi-ya'd" all the stalks.

Grandma with her newest Grandsons - Kaleb on her right, Keegan on her left.

My Grandpa is so sweet with babies - here he is with Keegan, his Great-Grandson.

Eli and Kaleb - he was so gentle and sweet with him.

COUSINS!! Cole holding Keegan, Eli holding Kaleb. The boys loved having their own baby!

Cole with "his" baby, Kaleb. Little brothers have to stick together!

The boys were excited to get this year's Christmas ornaments from Uncle Billy & Aunt Niki. Awesome this year, they made them Lego ornaments. Can you tell Cole was excited over his airplane?!