Thanksgiving

We had the most amazing Thanksgiving this year. We definitely have an enormous amount of things to be thankful for. My whole mom's side of the family (aunt, uncle all the cousins, and my grandparents), were able to go to Galveston, TX for Thanksgiving. Since John and Erika were not able to come back to Kansas this year we all went to them. Jeremy and I actually stayed with John and Erika, which was awesome. It was great to see where they live and what they talk about all the time! It was such a great break away from everything here. Mom and Dad rented a mini van and the five of us rode down together. That was a treat in itself :). We really did have a great time in the van for 11 hours there and back :). And it was a very good idea of dad's to rent the minivan, because I am pretty sure Jeremy, Erin and I would not have lasted in the back seat of the VUE together for that long.
We left Wednesday morning and arrived in Galveston that evening around 10:30pm. Thursday Erika had planned and AMAZING thanksgiving lunch for everyone. Keep in mind, there was 14 of us!! And she cooked for us for all but 2 meals from Thursday-Saturday. They were wonderful hosts!!
I know that while we were gone Wichita got a little cold front, and Galveston got that as well. Just not quite as cold. It was in the 50's every day we were there. Just so everyone knows, 50 degrees in Galveston is colder than 50 degrees here. I guess because of all the moisture in the air, and the breeze off the gulf. Well Erin and I were a little disappointed that it was a bit chilly, but that was not going to stop us from swimming in the gulf. So Erin, Annette and I went swimming while everyone else sat on the beach wrapped up in blankets watching us :). It was a bit cold, but as long as we stayed under the water it was not too bad. Annette taught Erin and I how to boogie board, which was a lot of fun.
Friday, all of the grandkids, but John :) had bought tickets to the amazing water park in Galveston called Schlitterbahn. So despite the chilly weather we all went, and had an amazing time. It was enclosed pretty well, but was still pretty cold. We will be lucky if we get out of this weekend without getting a cold :). Before we went to Schlitterbahn a lot of us went shopping on the Strand, which has a lot of custom boutique shops. It was a bad place for me to be because they have the most adorable baby things at these shops!! But I had to hold off. Friday evening we all went to the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. They have an amazing display of Christmas lights, that you walk through by the harbor.
Saturday, we ate lunch together and then Mom, Dad , Erin, Jeremy and I left and went part way back to Dallas that evening. Everyone else stayed until Sunday morning. It was just an amazing time away with our amazing family. It really could not have been a better Thanksgiving. Thank you John and Erika for making our time in Galveston so amazing.