Fight Like you Live

Our thanksgiving really went off without a hitch…except that our house was a mad house! I'm just not used to A) big families, and B) being around a lot of kids. John told me that is how his household was growing up…always people over, always something going on.

I actually got off work early on Wednesday, can you believe it? I was in such shock that I almost had a coronary. It's the first day ALL year that I got off early. Granted it was at 3:30pm, but I'm not complaining! When I got home John and his dad were the only ones there. (Everyone else was at the hotel). John and I were able to make a few dishes in the quiet house and it was really nice and stressless. Having the family stay in a hotel was already showing its benefits! In less than 24 hours!

My plan for this Thanksgiving was to have as many dishes as possible already cooked BEFORE Thursday. Two years ago I had MAJOR stress in trying to use one oven for 4 dishes that needed to be baked. I was just hoping that my reheating theory would pay off.

The rest of the family, (John's mom, sister, bro-in-law, the 3 nieces, and one nephew), showed up around dinnertime. John's sister informed us that she HAD to eat by 5:30pm or her head would explode. We did not want to take that risk so we immediately headed to Bon Temps, (the local Creole restaurant in town). Dinner went ok, but the twins were awfully fussy. Big Guy told John and I that they normally aren't that fussy, and right after he said that I thought 'yeah right.' Then a split second later John said the same thing. We did learn however that the Big Guy WAS right, because that was the only fussy night the twins had.

Let me just tell you that I do not know how John's sister and bro-in-law do it! You all know how hard one baby is right? Imagine two!! At the same age!! It worked out well though because there was enough family to take over the kid duties. However the twins are in a very positive stage. Allie only wants to be held by John's mom and Chloe only wants to be held by her mom. So needless to say John and I didn't get to do too much holding. Do you think they might be over this phase by Christmas? I hope so!

On Thanksgiving morning John, Sarah, Maddy, Bow and myself headed to a near by park to participate in a fun run/walk! (It was either a two mile walk or an 8 mile run.) We met up with Sam, who ran the 8 miles, and also met up with Jen and her family.

Here is the crew before the start:

Our initial plan was to walk the two miles…but what happens when we start? Maddy and bow take off and decide to run! So John and Sarah ran with them, and I stayed and walked w/ Jen and her family. It kind of stunk that I couldn't walk with everyone, but I was not prepared to run! Let me tell you that it is something that I need to mentally prepare to do.

Here's an action shot of Maddy:

Jen and her family:

After we finished we decided to wait for Sam to come in. She did a really great job!

There was also this one runner who looked totally slim from the backside…but when he turned he had a HUGE beer belly! I had to get a photo because I had never seen a man with a belly like that in such great shape!

I had put the turkey in the oven before we left for the run/walk so it didn't have much time when we got back home. All I had to cook was the ham, turkey and gravy. It was GREAT! I could actually enjoy the day. Once the turkey was done we took it out and then put all the other dishes in the oven to warm up. I still can't believe how perfectly it worked out!

Here is a photo of the spread…along with some crazy man's eyeball.

This photo was actually taken BEFORE we ate.

It's quite similar to a photo I took two years ago. At least this one was AFTER we ate.

As you can tell the meal was a success:

I didn't really plan on any games or activities for the adults since I knew the kids would be entertaining…however the wii totally came in handy!

Here is a video of Maddy and bow boxing:


Here is a video of Auntie Jane and Maddy boxing:

Here's a family photo of the Cox's:

We didn't get any other family/group shots this year. I'm pretty bummed. I should have taken the initiative and done it. I'll have to do it at Christmas.

Here is one last shot. I thought it was too cute not to post!

The next morning everyone came over and it seemed like John's parents dog, Zip, had an accident in the back of the truck due to the ham carcass the Big Guy threw out in the back yard from the day before. Molly was hoping that Bonnie and Clyde didn't eat too much of it as well, since she normally doesn't feed them meat. We all then headed to the beach, (sans John and the Big Guy who stayed home to work on house projects). It was really fun at the beach, and I actually got a few good photos too.

Here is Sarah and Chloe:

Here is Molly and one of her babies Clyde:

Maddy was told to role up her pants so they didn't get wet. She listened really well!

Here's the whole family on the beach.

Here's a cute video of Chloe. She didn't realize I was filming her, and she kind of stops in her tracks when she realizes it.


I should have gone in front of them to get their faces, but I didn't want to get my shoes wet. Lame I know. I did get this portrait though:

Here is Sarah on the way back up the beach:

This has to be my favorite photo of them all. It was one of the few times I got to see Allie smile as well. I think I got 3 good shots of this too!! What a cutie! I think she takes after her Godmother.
We stopped off at the outlets in Pismo to do a little shopping while some of the kids took a nap. Before we headed home Molly decided to let her dogs out and Clyde totally had a diarrhea attack right on the sidewalk! I missed it, thank god, and only saw the aftermath. Molly was totally cursing out the Big Guy for throwing that ham out in the back yard.

That night we went out to Tahoe Joe's for dinner. My table was me, John, Molly, Maddy and Bow. I was a little hesitant about keeping the kids manageable, but the restaurant gave them each an etch-a-sketch and it kept them busy the WHOLE TIME! It was amazing! So if you have a kid(s) from 4-6 years old, get them an etch-a-sketch! The next morning Clyde had more issues in our garage due to the ham…but Molly tried to clean it, so that was nice. When Sarah and the kids came over she said that the Big Guy had a great story to tell from last night, and that we wouldn't believe it.

I guess Allison heard Zip barking in the middle of the night. (She was sleeping in the back of their truck). So Big Guy goes outside around 2:30am. He sees the bed of his truck is open and some guy standing next to Zip. The guy asks him if this was his dog, and he said yes, and then big guy got his dog. When he turned around the guy was gone! So Big Guy decides to put Zip in the front of the truck since she can now let herself out of the back. He goes back to the hotel and hits the hay.

The next morning he goes out to check on Zip. When he opened the door he almost got knocked out by a rancid smell. That is right...poor Zippy had another accident. So Big Guy had to spend the morning cleaning up the mess. Let me just say that I was really glad I did not have to ride in that car!


Right before the Cox's left I got two more cute videos of the twins. They were jumping off our coffee table. Here is Chloe first...she's a bit adventurous.



Here is Allie. She doesn't really jump, but does it matter? She's still super cute!