Thanksgiving in Virginia

Last week I flew out to Virginia for Thanksgiving! As soon as Ben and Rosie were born, I was scouring for flights to go visit. I was so, so excited to spend time with family and to be back in my home state for the first time since June.

I did feel bad leaving Benny for Thanksgiving, but he was 110% supportive and encouraging of me going. That didn't stop him from cooking a whole Thanksgiving meal though. Thankfully he was able to have a celebration with our old roommate Caleb. See their turkey day spread below.



I flew overnight Monday, my mom picked me up around noon Tuesday, and we made the three hour drive down to Katie's house. It was SO great to see them and love on the newest members of the family.





Jane probably changed the most since I last saw her in August. She is such a chatterbox - last time I saw her she wasn't even talking in full sentences.





We took lots of walks around the neighborhood, it was the perfect Fall weather.







And the leaves! They were so bright and beautiful.



I spent a lot of time holding these two.







The girls wanted to help mom in the kitchen with the pie. Jane helped by adding a Sesame Street sticker on the crust when no one was looking.



Eleanor loving on her little brother.



And grandma loving on her grandkids.



Thanksgiving morning Eric drove down and got to meet the twins too!



Katie and I tried to do a little photo shoot with the babes while they're still so tiny.



Then we all got dressed and headed out for our annual field goal kicking.





Even Katie kicked, albeit very cautiously.





Chris and Eric kicked the furthest as usual. My goal is just making it over, which I did!





I love this tradition. It's a great way to get some exercise and enjoy the fresh air before eating a lot of food and lounging around the rest of the day.







The King and Queen of Thanksgiving day naps:



Mom went straight to work cooking up a delicious feast for us all. I had full intentions of helping more, but those baby snuggles are hard to get away from. I asked to help a few times, but mom makes it all seem effortless.





The chef!



And our feast. It was all so delicious!





Eleanor told us the story of Thanksgiving that she learned in school, which was adorable - I wish I would have recorded it.



The rest of the day consisted of resting and playing until bedtime.



Of course there was a card game or two.



Friday we ran a few errands, took a walk, played some games, and had a pizza movie night. Then it was time to get my last snuggles before it was time to leave early Saturday morning.







I had such a great time, I can't wait to come back with Benny in December. We have countless things to be grateful for this year. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Veterans Day

I know this is a little late, but never too late to thank and honor our vets! We started off the day with American flag pancakes. Then we went to take a walk around the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at Point Loma. It was such a beautiful day out.











Couldn't help but get a little emotional seeing some of the messages loved ones had left.







Can't beat that view.





Thank you to all the men and women out there who have served our country and the sacrifices they have made, seen and unseen. I'm so thankful we live in this country and forever grateful to those who protect it. Happy (late) Veterans Day!

Family Visit - From Texas

Last week Eric's parents flew out from San Antonio to come visit us. It's the first time in years that they've had both their kids in one place, so it was nice to have everyone together!

They have been to San Diego many times already since Alison has been living here, so they were mostly just interested in getting some quality time with everyone rather than site-seeing. We took walks, ate way too much, and spent a lot of time playing with the kids and just sitting around talking.













Originally when we asked what they would like to do when they were here, the only request my father-in-law had was to eat pancakes. So Saturday morning we made sure to have pancakes!
We were thankful to have them staying with us for the week so we could get as much time with them as we could. Sadly Eric and I still had to work during the week so they would spend the day with Alison and we would get to spend time with them in the afternoons.



During the weekend we all took the girls to Chuck-E-Cheese one day. I hadn't been in many, many years so it was crazy to see how it's changed!







It was actually a lot of fun for all of us. At one point I got a high score in ski-ball and it shot out 100 tickets (all the other rounds I got like four).





We celebrated Alison's birthday at Benihana - her favorite.



They got to see how we are living, which is a pretty sweet place if you ask me!







We also had one night where just Eric and I went out to eat with them at a place in Little Italy downtown. It was so much fun trying a new place and having our own time with them. Hopefully next time they visit we can take off a few days so we aren't working so much!





We had such a great visit with them and are so grateful they were able to come out. It's a busy season for all of us as they have also just made a big move from Virginia to Texas. We are so excited to get to go visit them in December!