Thanksgiving Fun!

Well, I'm finally getting to my Thanksgiving post. Beware: TONS of pictures! This was such an amazing and fun time out in PA with my family. It was packed full with Grandma and Grandpa, lots of cousins, aunts and uncles, and fun activities. It makes my heart long for the world I grew up in where cousins grew up together and were around for everyday life and activities.

Here's our Holiday in pictures!

Thanksgiving dinner with 14 adults and 5 kids! Our family is so loud and crazy that there are always about 5 different conversations going on at one time, all at high volume. Jon says the first extended family holiday he spent with us he didn't get in one word!

The Kiddie Table- no Holiday meal is complete without it! Mekonen wanted to be in on the fun as well but not big enough yet to sit in a big boy chair.

Opening early Christmas presents from Uncle Bill and Auntie Ruthie.

Mekonen meeting his God-Uncle Demetrius who also spent Thanksgiving with us. :)

Lots of time spent snuggling my nieces and nephew (minus Jane in this picture). I love them so much!

Making pancakes with Grandma!

Mekonen playing with his best buddy cousin Manny.

Lots of fun times with Aunties and Uncles.
Mekonen with Uncle Tom and cousin Natalie.

Mekonen & Auntie Beka

Mekonen & Auntie Amy

Mekonen & Uncle Meade

We ate A LOT of food that week! Mekonen had his first taste of turkey and loved it!

And the Castro family tradition: cutting down the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving! Grandpa Jack and all the kids running through the Christmas tree farm to find the perfect tree! It was FREEZING COLD!

Grandpa Jack pulling Mekonen and a very cold Janie in the wagon.

Daddy, Mommy, & Mekonen! I could just eat those dimples!Our little Frosty the Snowman.
We finally found the perfect tree and Manny got to help Grandpa Jack cut it down. He was proud of himself!

Grandma and Grandpa Jack with all their grandbabies: Jane, Aderyn, Natalie, Mekonen & Manny.

The kids took charge of putting on the ornaments this year.

Notice where the ornaments ended up? All on the lower right side, even though they had chairs. Haha. Also, note the second Castro family tradition. A tipping Christmas tree. This tree is not that big, much smaller than most trees we get and every year the Christmas tree tilts to one side and has to be fixed every other day, or it simply falls over. One year, it crashed to the ground 7 times!We got to visit with some dear friends and they got to meet Mekonen!
Kaila, Abbey, Morgyn & Mekonen. Kaila (far left) was the flower girl in our wedding at age 5. Can't believe she is already 9 yrs. old!More dear friends: the Majeski's. Abby, Mekonen, Caroline, & Katherine. I had Caroline in 2nd grade (now in 6th-whoa), and I had Abby in 1st grade (now in 4th). I missed out on having little miss Katherine, which makes me sad. Such beautiful girls.

(Note to the Majeski's: I think this picture is a sign that your family is not complete yet. An Ethiopian princess or prince would fit in perfectly with those girls).