Mr. and Mrs. Volk: Sooo Grateful

I took this picture on Aaron's phone and wanted to include it of Aaron's birthday celebration! The kids LOVE everything about birthdays! We all do! Eleanor sings happy birthday on repeat all throughout the day.

Aaron and the boys wrote on the sidewalk what they're grateful for and then drew turkeys.

I brought out the kinetic sand and realized Eleanor hasn't played with it before. She's obsessed and it keeps her occupied for hours. Tuesday was gymnastics day. I love watching Austin learn new things.

Since last week was spent doing a lot of prep for Thanksgiving, I found I had some extra time on my hands and I worked on Eleanor's baby book. Austin took my phone and happened to snap this picture of me working away. It's almost finished, just in time for her to turn 2. Hehehe.

On Wednesday, Eli didn't have school so we decided to visit Science City for the morning. Duane jumped in the car with us last minute and we're glad he came along so we could show him Union Station.

We happened to see the holiday train was opened and we get to ride it free with our membership to Science City. The kids were sooo excited. It was fun to watch all three of them experience this together.

Eleanor didn't sleep too long during her nap, so when I heard her crying, I went into her room and rocked her. She fell back to sleep on me. I love her cuddles so much.

Thanksgiving 2019:

We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and then dog competition.

It was raining, so I bundled up and ran to the temple and back. I did my own Turkey Trot!

Aaron fried the turkey again this year and it was delicious. I did the rolls - I went simple bought Rhodes Rolls. No one seemed to know the difference and I wasn't exhausted from baking. I made a green bean casserole. Duane and LeeAnn provided the potatoes, stuffing and pistachio salad. Aaron made cranberry sauce too. The meal was simple and satisfying!

(Oh, Grandpa and Grandma Volk gave the boys new Chief's jerseys that the boys wore 4 days in a row.)

The missionaries joined us! It was lovely celebrating together for our first Thanksgiving in our new home!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing together. We worked on puzzles and watched some football and took naps.

On Friday, we drove out to Duane and LeeAnn's property. It's exciting to see the updates!!

We then went exploring in Jamestown - it's a small town that made me homesick for McPherson.

We checked out unique shops and explored antique stores.

My favorite place was this home decor/candle store. The kids got to make their own candles!

We all enjoyed a tasty baked treat at the Amish bakery. And everyone enjoyed a nap on the drive home. I cried on the drive back - I felt homesick, but I don't know what I was homesick for. My family was all in Utah together for Thanksgiving and I was mainly sad about missing Dallas's baptism on Saturday. I also found myself dreaming about how life would be different here if my parents still lived in McPherson, only 3 and a half hours away. It will be fun for my kids to have a taste of the country life by visiting Grandma and Grandpa Volk when they move out this way.

We ended the evening with more puzzles and hot chocolate and tiny marshmallows and a Christmas movie.

It was magical!

We all felt sooo grateful for our many blessings, especially that Aaron is so happy at work. I still think about the year he was deployed over the holidays and I never want to take for granted the time we get to be together.

Duane and LeeAnn headed back home on Saturday and we spent the day cleaning and putting up our Christmas decorations! Oh I love Christmas so much! It was extra special because it was the first time setting up Christmas in our new house!