Thanksgiving fun!

I know Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks ago now.... But I thought I'd share a few pictures from the holiday! (If you think this is late...I still have Halloween party pics and my parents' visit in October to share with you....)

As I said....we went down to SoCal for the holiday to spend it with the Dutton/Johansen crew. It was such a great weekend!! After battling some fun traffic in the Bay area after work...we made it to their house around 11pm and joined Scott, Connie, Scotty, Donna, and Ryan in the backyard around the fire pit. It's probably my favorite place to hang out at their house. I love sitting out there talking and drinking wine or hot tea. The floor by the fireplace in their garden room takes a close second though...great naps have been had there. :)

Anyway.....we had dinner around 4pm at Aunt Holly's house. We all did some cooking and everything turned out amazzzzing. Yummy it was good. After eating myself nearly miserable....Rachel brought out her pies. Oh man that apple pie was good. After I finished the ginormous piece Rachel cut for me, I kind of hated my life I was very full. Totally worth it. But I should mention here (because maybe he'll read this....) Kevin actually made the yummy apple pie I ate. Very impressive, he even braided (is that what you call it?) the crust on top and made it pretty. You might have some baking competition Rach.....it was that good. :)

This picture was not taken on Thanksgiving...but the week before at Michelle's baby shower, and it's cute so I'm putting it on here. :)

Kevin and Rachel

This picture makes me laugh...Donna's bein' a creeper.

Well isn't that precious.

Dut looks excited.

Mounds and mounds of food....

Chad and Connie :)

Yes Olivia and Zoie ate outside, while going back and forth from the hot tub. :)

I took a nap that night then got up with 3 other crazies to do some Black Friday midnight shopping. Donna, Rachel, Nicole, and I got to Macy's around 12:30am with 43,856,382,298 other peole. It was absolute madness. We were way out of our league for the first hour that we were there. I was not prepared for the amount of people I would have to be in close quarters with. Families of 10+ people were there together buying mounds of pots and pans and boots. Employees in the shoe department were literally wet with sweat...dripping on the size 7.5 leather boots the 589th person asked them to get. Infants and toddlers were there with their crazy ass parents. Now this one bothered me.... Seeing 2 year olds rubbing their eyes and looking miserable while their parents ran around like crazy people. For real? Someone stay home with the freakin' kid while the other acts like a crazy person in Macy's at 3am. Luckily...some stores inside the mall were open too so we left Macy's for a while and when we came back it had died down a lot and we were able to breathe once again. Target and Toys R Us came after that. Then bed. At 6am.
Here is the only picture I managed to snap on my phone while in Macy's during the madness....

So.many.people.

Chad and I went out with some friends Friday night to our favorite little place and listened to our friend Matt sing. Of course he humored us by playing our song...Don't Stop Believin. I of course tried kissing Dave on the mouth and grab Matt's junk while on stage...both to no avail. And in case you're wondering...no, I wasn't drunk those are just the things I try to do to my husband's friends. Duh.
I didn't take any pictures that night but for your entertainment...here are a few pictures of me harassing Dave.

He never wants to kiss me. :(

Prom pic.

"Go ahead....rest your head on momma's bosom."

Saturday we spent the morning walking around the OC Swap Meet....I love that place. It was like 80 degrees that afternoon. Maybe it's because I grew up in the midwest....but that shit is WEIRD in November. Not that I'm complaining...it was awesome. :) And that night the whole family got together and walked around a neighborhood along the water in Newport Beach. Lots of houses had their lights up and even the ones who didn't had huge windows and lights on in the house so we could peek in their beautiful beach mansions. Don't mind if I do. :)

All together! Dutton/Johansen/Gillette crew :)

Autumn kept hiding and jumping out and scaring everyone...it was cute.

Good one!

Teehee...so cute. :)

Sunday we ate breakfast with the parents and headed over to the Laukat's to see friends before heading out. Well, that and there was football on so of course Chad needed to watch for an hour. I got some much needed kid/baby time with McKenna, Bella, and Ryan and then heard the greatest news ever from the Weaver's! Their baby girl got the all clear to head home from the hospital the following day! This little girl has had quite the journey so far. Allie is such a little fighter...coming into this world 13 weeks early and getting to go home with Mom and Dad 4 months later. And I can't imagine the ups and downs Mommy and Daddy Weaver have felt too. I think about their strength and courage a lot. :)
I only took one picture that day, so I added some sweet ones that I already had of those cute kids I was telling you about.....

McKenna cracks me up.

Bella....that smile. :)

Allie....growing so fast now!! Look at those sweet eyes! Can't wait to meet her! :)

Auntie Brooke is in her happy place in this picture.

Ryan....he hurts my heart he's so cute.

The drive home was pretty uneventful. Especially for me considering I slept nearly the entire way home! Hey, I had to catch up on my sleep from that crazy Black Friday!! Hope everyone had a great holiday too!!

6 days until we're in Missouri for Christmas!!!! xoxo