Thankful...

After three months apart, we got our Lorien Cara back home this week for Thanksgiving.  The kids have been so excited and counting down the days until her return.  We are all so happy she is here!  She is pretty happy too...but not happy about the cooler temperatures up here.  

In her absence, Clare took the time to grow taller than Lorien.  Impossible but true.

Wyatt didn't get to have his birthday dinner out to eat because I was recovering from surgery.  So once Lorien was here we took Wyatt out to Burma Burma for his birthday dinner.

After dinner, we hit up Will's empty office for shinanigans: office chair races, nerf gun wars, ice cream sundaes, and flying paper airplanes off the balcony. 

Thanksgiving morning I made everyone go on a walk with me.  No one liked it...except me.  Winning!

Thanksgiving dinner was a smashing success.  Everyone helped make the meal and everyone enjoyed eating the meal.  I love holidays at home with my people. 

Wyatt wanted to try out some Black Friday shopping.  So I took him and three friends to Target to see what all the hubbub was about. 

We ate leftovers for every meal for the rest of the week.

Since Lorien was home over the weekend, we also made a trip to the tree lot to pick our tree.  It was raining and the lot was closed Saturday night so we had to go back Sunday.  We picked a good one that only leans a little bit at the top.

It has been wonderful having Lorien home for the week.  She goes back home for two weeks to finish the semester then is back for Christmas. 

*edit update.  Lorien got a barf bug the night before she was supposed to fly back to Santa Monica.  She got to stay home with us for two more days.  She and I went to a favorite things party where she got to laugh with old ladies and pick up some great skin cream.  She also got to help me shop and run errands for a day.  It really was a treat to have her home for a week.