Thanksgiving

 A couple weeks prior to Thanksgiving, I continued with our family's annual tradition of making a thankful tree. I always enjoy seeing what specific items the kids add to the tree. Adley was so proud to write her own leaves this year. We certainly are thankful to our gracious God for His many, many blessings!

Jon and Chelsea hosted the Schleicher side of the family for a Thanksgiving Day meal in their newly remodeled kitchen. Such an enjoyable day together with some very tasty food!

I am typically so bad at getting photos on Thanksgiving. Thankfully, Jon captured many great memories for all of us!

Each of the families contributed to the meal. I brought a cranberry salad and a pumpkin cake dessert. I got this tasty dessert recipe from a 10-year-old girl from our connect group who loves to bake. She was so proud when I asked for her recipe, so I sent her this photo of my completed dessert. :)

After the meal, we played games, watched football, and played sports outside. We stayed long enough to have a charcuterie board full of yummy food for dinner. What a relaxing day! Living close to family to have these special days together is definitely one of our favorite blessings from God!

Family Camping

 Before Thanksgiving, our family joined both my sister's and my brother's families on a 3-night camping trip to Huntsville. This was our family's second camping adventure, so we came a little better prepared this year. We invested in a new, larger tent and purchased head lamps for each member of our family. Our time together was full of relaxation-- chatting around the campfire, playing games, hiking, eating yummy food, exploring in nature, playing sports... what a wonderful trip!

The weather in the mornings was cool and crisp, but not too chilly, so it was ideal for all the cousins' many, many, many games of football.

Sometimes, the dads joined in the gameplay too!

Abby, Ben, and Adley tried an occasional game of football but typically found other ways to entertain themselves. They sure got some good giggles in!

Of course, camping is not all play and no work. Each of the adult couples signed up for several meals to plan and provide food for. When it came time to prep the food, all of the adults chipped in. 

The guys did a great job of managing the fire during our stay.

Ian especially loved being in charge of getting our daily fire going. Jaden even stepped in one morning to help.

We all spent a significant time around the campfire-- staying warm, chatting, and playing games. The kids' favorite by-the-campfire activities were writing silly stories and playing Careers.

But naturally, the BEST part about having a campfire is making s'mores!

Other daytime activities included fishing...

gymnastics (when the fishing got slow...),

watching out for alligators (yikes!),

playing games,

hanging out by the river,

doing crafts,

enjoying hot chocolate with whipped cream (or sometimes just the whipped cream!),

and hiking. 

One evening, rain hit our campsite, so we drove a few minutes into the town of Huntsville to see a movie. Staying dry inside and giggling at the movie was a perfect way to spend our time!

Since we were camping over a Sunday, we started Sunday morning with a time of worship. What a beautiful place to praise our Savior together! We read some Bible stories to the kids, listened to a mini-message by Jason,

sang some songs,

and acted out the story of the Good Samaritan. The kids loved this!

On our last morning, the 5 oldest cousins created a little hideout/fort for themselves by clearing out a pathway through the brush and creating a little alcove. They even devised a special password required for entrance. What a perfect place to hang out and play some games!

Another great year of camping in the books!