The girls enjoyed playing with their cousin Lena. They roamed around the expansive backyard and swung on the swings, explored the forest, and cleared a trail to the creek.
Gabey, being our non-outdoorsy boy, stayed mostly inside and helped prep the food. Right up his alley! He helped with the biscuits...
At last, it was time to gather at Emily's brother's house. The finishing touches to the feast were being made. Most everyone were wearing semi-nice clothes. You can see that Xiao Yu (in cousin Millie's arms) was wearing a nice button up shirt. Gabey, on the other hand, threw a fit and would only wear a t-shirt.
Before digging in, we all paused for a group picture. Three of Emily's siblings, and their families, are represented in the picture--which is a smallish gathering for the Rice clan...
We got food for Xiao Yu and he insisted on helping to carry his plate to the table. He enjoyed eating everything except for the brussel sprouts. This Thanksgiving was special because it was his first Thanksgiving. There were lots of firsts...first time eating turkey, stuffing, and other goodies.
After dinner, we ate dessert. Eliana diversified her selection by choosing a thin slice of pumpkin pie and a thin slice of cheesecake.
Emily's brother who hosted has four teenage boys, and so they have video game systems that we don't. Elvin let the kids play Mario Kart, which ended up being a hit, of course.
The kart kept crashing into the barriers, but it was still fun.
Here we attempted to take a family picture and got this one as the least bad one. Gabey was not especially cooperative.
Most of the pictures ended up being more like this...
After putting on jammies, the kids were being silly and wanted to sit together. We headed home late that night, tired but with full tummies.
The kids enjoy Thanksgiving and this year are old enough to reflect a little bit on the meaning of the holiday. When asked what they are thankful for, Eliana said "pumpkin pie" and Karina said "cousins". Gabriel's answer was "Clean!" although we are not quite sure what he means by that.
The next day, it was clear and so it was a perfect day to hang up lights. The girls are really excited this year about Christmas, and putting up decorations, and everything that goes along with leading up to the day.
Daddy had two "helpers" with the lights.
They found some light strings that we never really use. But they put them to good use!
Xiao Yu stayed inside but found some hand-me-down gloves and cap that Lena had outgrown. So he put them on!
We also got out the living room decorations, such as the glockenspiel and nativity scenes.
They also set up a little town on top of the piano.
The stockings were hung by the fireplace...
Eliana took pity on Daddy, whose stocking does not have a Santa on it. So she drew one and Scotch taped it on! We do not have an "official" stocking for Xiao Yu yet. It's on order, but will only arrive next year. So he has to make do with a generic felt stocking for this year.
We also stayed busy by working out in the yard...
The kids were actually helpful in helping to rake leaves and put them into the yard waste bin. This actual helpfulness is a new thing for the Yuen household!
So we relaxed, played around, and otherwise took it easy on that weekend. We hope you had a fun, safe, and meaningful Thanksgiving!
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