Thanksgiving in Atlanta

We got back Saturday from spending a week in Atlanta for Thanksgiving! Every year we have been able to do that but 1, when I was teaching through Tuesday one year, and it is one of our favorite things we do all year! My sweet, smart, and beautiful niece, Josie, blogged so well about some of our trip, so you'll have to check it out! We had a wonderful time, as always, with everyone, and we got to see almost every relative on Josh's mom and dad's side in one day! We are so thankful for that! Here are some highlights from the trip
* James slept in my arms almost the whole way on the plane ride to Atlanta.
* Besides the first night, he slept pretty well the whole week for not being in his crib.
* James recognized Papa Joe when he picked us up Sunday afternoon from the airport, immediately went to him, and wouldn't go back to us to get in the car without some persuading.
* We had the best time spending all of Monday at Jerrod (Josh's brother) and Amy's house, spending lots of time playing with our adorable nieces and nephews.
* James got to see Amy's dad's cows right up close and loved it!
* Josh's cousin, Jennifer, just got engaged, so we got to see her with her ring and new fiance, and talk wedding talk.
* We spent Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday, and 1st half of Thursday at Aunt Ally and Uncle Eddie's house with Josh's mom and cousins.
*Jo Anna (Josh's sis) and Hannah came over to see us the first half of the week as much as they could with school still going on, and then we got to spend pretty much the rest of the week with them.
*James went a little nuts with all the attention he received and cracked us up all week. He was the biggest ham for the family all week!
*He is saying new names for people...Aunt Jo Anna is "Jo-Jo", Aunt Amy is "Mamy"(like Amy with an M in front), Papa Joe is "Papa", Josie is "Jo", this was my favorite-Hannah is "Nina". Those were the most clear. He almost said Jerrod, Jackson, and Jeb's names, but they weren't too understandable. He would whine and whine and whine for Nina and Jo, and loved every second of their attention.
*We spent the last half of Thursday and Friday at Papa Joe's house.
*Jo Anna and I got up early and went shopping on Friday. It is one of our fun traditions that I appreciate even more now, since getting up early is a little easier than it used to be. We got some good deals, but I had to be reserved in my buying, since we were flying home. I got some good ideas from Christmas presents, though, that I'm going to start on this week!
*We had the best time on Friday night at Jo Anna and Charles's house. We had our family Christmas with them, since we won't be there for Christmas, had a great meal cooked by Charles, and exchanged presents! James had the best time out of everyone, I think. He really enjoyed every second of the festivities.

We got up EARLY EARLY Saturday morning and flew out at 6:30 am Atlanta time, which is 5:30 am Texas time. The good thing in getting up that early is that it makes traveling so much easier! The main reason we did it was it saved us $200, but there was hardly a line at security, which is much appreciated when you have an extremely active toddler!

Yesterday, we rested, started decorating, watched lots of college football, and ate yummy turkey soup that Elizabeth made for us last night. Today was lots of fun, because I got to see Christine at church this morning, and then we spent the rest of the day decorating, cleaning, organizing, and just chilling before the work week starts!

Well, I'm off to bed! I hope everyone has a wonderful start to the Christmas season!!