About a week before MaryAnne arrived I decided to start a mini tree of thanks with the boys. It was really for them but it was good for me to slow down in the pre-baby panic and realize that we have so much to be thankful for.
These are the things they were thankful for this year. On the second day Owen called out that he was thankful for his nipples. We spared the tree that shame and told him while we are glad he’s thankful for his nipples we might think of some other options.
We enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast at my brother Ryan’s house with my parents in town from Texas. The cousins enjoyed cuddling MaryAnne and watching a movie together after lunch. I would say we all got our fill of great food.
if you need a good apple cider sangria recipe this one is a good one that we tried this year!
Lizzy and Ruthie even made MaryAnne a bracelet on the rainbow loom!
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you and yours!!
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Jackson’s birthday happens to roll around each year in the midst of a move, summer break and in this year’s case..morning sickness/just being big pregnant. I wasn’t up for a big bash. We normally do extended family and a bunch of friends. This year I let Jackson invite 5 friends for a simple pizza and cupcake “pirate party”. I really tried to resist the mom guilt that went along with down-sizing but after our big Texas trip this year I just was not up for a big shindig. We filled some water balloons, did a mini scavenger hunt, put on pirate tattoos, ate pizza and called it a party! The absolute best thing that happened was that my friend Annie’s flight got cancelled (good for us not for her 
so an hour before the party we landed ourselves Annie and 4 teenage girls to help with the party. They made it so much more of a party than I could of and Jackson felt so special!!
on the day of his real birthday we had cake as a family and he got to pick dinner! I can’t get over how big he is! We love him so much. Happy Birthday, Jackson!!
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Yesterday we hosted a casual get together with friends for Memorial Day. These dear friends are the people we met the week we set foot in DC over 6 years ago. They have stuck with us through our comings and goings. We all have older kids now and have spread out geographically so we don’t all see each other as much as we would like. It was nice to get everyone together, comment on how big the kids have gotten, eat yummy food and relax on a holiday from work! The guest of honor was an adorable 7 week old golden retriever puppy, Wesley Friesen! He was a charmer!
At dinner time we set all of the kids up outside with their plates and headed in to eat, a few sprinkles later and all of the kids had successfully shifted their picnic of 11 kiddos into the clubhouse of our swing set. Why we run around coordinating the kids so much I don’t know, they can clearly fend for themselves!
The Menu
(only possible because I think morning sickness has finally passed!! It only took 17 weeks but I am thankful)
many of these recipe links might be repeats because we pull them out each summer!
Appetizers
Sun-dried tomato artichoke dip with baguette (with this recipe I sub goat cheese for feta, it’s more of a spread then a dip)
Spinach dip and veggies
dinner
fried chicken- cheated here, left it to the experts and picked up KFC!
loaded baked potato salad-another cheat, thanks Costco!
corn salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette
Barefoot Contessa’s Pasta Salad with Sun-dried Tomatoes
Fruit Salad…thanks, Margaret!
Dessert
Blackberry Peach Cobbler Bars, thanks Rebecca (and Southern Living)!!
Homemade ice cream a la Seth and the kids who helped crank it!
The absolute best overflow of a great night was that we finally wore Owen out. He fell asleep immediately and slept until 7 AM for maybe the second time in his entire life. I was about to keel over from exhaustion after such a packed weekend but clearly it was just the right balance for the O man.
Happy Memorial Day! And of course more important than any friendly gathering and yummy food, we want to thank those who have served our country and those who continue to serve. We greatly appreciate all you do. And this year we especially remember the Foreign Service Officers who gave their lives doing what they love!
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