Thanksgiving....

My family almost always goes to Arkansas for Thanksgiving. My aunt Linda(my dads sister) is a wonderful cook and always loves to cook our Thanksgiving meal....and she likes to say that my mom doesn't know how:) We also get to visit with my dad's parents while we are there. So we made our annual trip to Fort Smith on Wednesday morning. When I say we I mean Todd, Hudson, Gracelyn and I along with my parents....it was a very long seven hours:) We had gotten word that my Grandpa had gone into the hospital on Tuesday night...this was his second or third trip to the hospital in the last month or two. We knew this was just the beginning of his decline in health and my dad tried to prepare us for that the whole way there. I still hoped and prayed that he would get better and that maybe he would get to come home from the hospital while we were all there. Once we got there my dad and mom went on to the hospital to see Grandpa while Todd and I stayed at my aunts with Hudson. We had decided we would go on Thursday when he felt a little better....I never got to see him. Grandpa passed away about 7:30 on Thanksgiving morning. He was just so weak and his body couldn't take being sick anymore and he had a heart attack. We were all so devastated....we were thankful that he wasn't sick anymore and free of pain but we just weren't ready for that. Throughout the whole week I tried to be strong for my Grandma and all the rest of the family and tried to think about the blessings in my life. I was so thankful that we were all there to be with Grandma and that my dad had gotten to see him one last time. We all came together for Thanksgiving dinner but it just wasn't the same. Grandpa LOVED Thanksgiving when we all came together and he especially loved my aunts turkey and dressing...so needless to say it was a very hard day for all of us.

I didn't take too many pictures that day but I did manage to get a few pictures of Hudson's first Thanksgiving.

Hudson taking a nap with his daddy....before the big meal.

We like to say he is saying "touchdown" but he has his arms like this a lot!

Hudson meeting Great-Grandma Farris for the first time. She thought he was precious. It was funny because she didn't realize how red his hair was at first and then when she did she LOVED it!!

After the funeral, Todd, Hudson, Gracelyn and I decided we would go and stay with Zack and Cherith since they just live about a hour away. Hudson was not sleeping good and we just kind of wanted to get away for a day. We enjoyed getting to spend some time with them and sweet Ella Kate. Ella Kate is so much fun and she is finally starting to interact with Hudson more. She sat in the floor and played with him for the longest time and would kiss on him and "burp" him. She would give him his passy if he was crying and then should clap and say "Yay".

This is what EK does when you tell her to burp the baby...so cute.


I love love love watching them play together....well I guess her playing with him. We are looking forward to watching them grow up together. We just hope Hudson has a few more cousins to play with:) We also enjoyed a surprise visit with my brother Chad. He hadn't planned on coming for Thanksgiving because they are coming to Tennessee for Christmas this year. He flew from Denver to Tulsa on Friday afternoon so he could be with the family for Grandpa's funeral. We were happy to get to see him a month earlier than we had planned but not the circumstances around it. We were glad that Hudson finally got to meet his Uncle Chad and we are looking forward to him meeting his Aunt Brandy at Christmas:)

Bonding time....Don't they look manly in the leopard chair?!

Just before going to Chili's for dinner...If you know either of my brothers you know we go to Chili's just about every time we are together. I Love Love Love this picture...so sweet.

Ella Kate loved having Uncle Chad here too. We get to see him again in a couple weeks:)