Happy Advent All

2009 Turkey Bowl Participants

A portion of the Thanksgiving crowd,

out for pizza Friday night?? What were we thinking?! :)

What a brilliant holiday we've had...

So brilliant it's hard to believe we've just commenced the season of Advent today! I wore purple to church by chance and voila! I was in the spirit of the season! How quickly the days pass as if to seem as a blur. A happy blur, indeed, but a blur nonetheless!

All of us with our beloved Auntie Oni

We had a grand Thanksgiving and enjoyed all the precious time spent with family from afar. The boys' Great Grand Aunti Oni was out from California all week and we soaked up her love and kindness. Our time together started with a Chipotle lunch on Wednesday to kick off the few days of eating well and then some! M was instantly smitten with her: "Is she my grandma? I love grandmas!" Adorable. At one point during lunch, Aunt Oni got the biggest kick out of the way M moved his arms--"like a real Italian"--and M thought this was a hoot. They laughed and guffawed for quite a while, especially after M continued to repeat the motion in order to elicit more fun. He is a character, that one. I just love watching him love others and bring about that same love in return. He's a natural.

T and J were also in very scrumptious form. T warmed to Auntie Oni over the course of the meal, stealing shy glances and eventually offering his sweet smiles. Baby J just continued to eat and eat, but always with a smile on his face. We laughed at his noodles strung from table to mouth. As I mentioned before, the kid can eat! Auntie Oni surely walked away from the meal charmed and exhausted (as it seems I end most days!)

Over the next few days, more fun was to be had with additional family arriving from California and DC. Let's just say the boys were a little enamored by all of their amazing, kind, talented, and uber-friendly high school/college-aged cousins. They all were fantastic and the boys had such fun being loved on... Mimi's sisters have done such a wonderful job raising their children. It really is quite a crew!

We ate and ate and ate and the boys even got a special trip to the train store with Papa and cousin Anna. You could say the expression "Over the moon" would be quite apropos in describing their holiday!

And now tomorrow, we are back to the usual, though "usual" with an Advent twist. Everything seems to have a little extra sparkle during Advent and I hope the boys get to share in it this year.

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Luke 1:30-33