Thanksgiving Recap!

It has been a busy week getting caught up from all of our Thanksgiving weekend fun! We had a wonderful weekend in South Dakota and it was good to spend time with family. This year we have much to be thankful for; our family, our health, and our happiness, and much much more!(Now that we are home I'm so thankful for 2 boys sleeping ALL night each day this week. We did not get much sleep on our trip and Todd and I were both exhausted). Here is our Thanksgiving recap:

We left bright and early Wednesday morning. About an hour into the drive Blake threw up/spit up in his car seat. We weren't sure what happened but he seemed to feel fine so we cleaned him up and kept going. We stopped outside of Omaha at a local burger joint named Stella's that I found in Midwest Living last year. We ate there last year and loved it so we decided to go back. It's always nice to find alternatives to the interstate fast food options!

Wednesday night we started preparing for Thanksgiving. James helped by making some cute turkeys for all of his little cousins. It is quite possible that he ate more than he made. He kept trying to dip his knife in the frosting...


Justin and Todd even got in on the Thankgiving prep and peeled 10 lbs of potatoes.
Thanksgiving day I didn't snap many pictures but I did get a picture of all the delicious food AND..
A picture of the boys!
Friday morning we headed across the border to Minnesota to visit Todd's dad. James likes to ride Grandpa Brad's 4 wheeler when we visit.

We also got in a couple card games.

Friday night after we tucked James in for bed he got the stomach flu. He got sick twice before bed. He woke up Saturday morning feeling ok, but still not 100%. He seemed to be acting somewhat normal so he went with Grandma to pick out a Christmas tree.

Saturday afternoon we all had fun decorating the tree and the living room with Christmas decor! We were getting ready to have dinner and James got sick again and this time it was when I was holding him so I got covered. Yuck! We quickly rushed to the shower and thankfully he didn't get sick again. We were planning to get the boys dressed up and take some family pictures, but ended up just spending the evening in our pajamas. James felt fine the rest of the evening and we enjoyed our Stemsrud Christmas. Here are some pics/videos from our evening.








The boys got so many fun toys and books. They have been keeping them both really busy this week!

Sock

Blake is finally saying more than Mama and Dada. He has added sock to his vocabulary. I think it is so funny that out of all the words sock is his third one. Even though he doesn't say much I can tell he is understanding a lot more than a couple of months ago.

Violin

Miss Alice brought a violin to choir last week and everyone got a turn. James enjoyed it but when I asked him if he liked the violin or guitar better he said the guitar was his favorite.

New toy

Blake got an early Christmas present from Grandma Robin. I think he enjoys pushing it as much as he loves riding on it. It has been perfect for when James is riding his bike. We have also gotten a lot of use out of it since we've had such a warm fall! Thank you Grandma!

I'm Thankful

Accident prone

I had to sign an incident report for Blake last Monday and Wednesday at school. Monday he was walking in the hall, wasn't watching where he was going and walked head first into a wall. That ended with goose egg on his forehead. Wednesday he was having lunch and fell backwards out of his chair. This ended with a goose egg on the back of his head. As I've said before Blake is our dare devil. He also doesn't want to miss a single thing! Thankfully, he is one very tough boy and didn't cry for very long after both accidents.

An artist at work

Blake's 2nd haircut

Blake got his 2nd haircut last week. He did great and sat still the entire time. I was hoping to keep some of the curls in back, but after the hair dresser trimmed the front and sides we decided it looked like he was growing a ponytail. He is looking like such a big boy with his new cut!

No more sweet curls in back. :(
Look at that sweet profile. Love him!