Thanksgiving in CO

Last Saturday our family of 4 flew to Colorado for a week. The flight was great, both kids were excellent! Once we got there we went to Gunther Toody's for lunch and I knew deep down that I shouldn't have had that giant milk shake :) Later that evening, Finley was NOT a happy camper. I knew that she couldn't handle a lot of dairy so that milkshake was definitely pushing it!!! What also stunk is that we were having a grandkid photo shoot that afternoon and she definitely cried through the whole thing....poor girl! I'm sure the pictures will be funny though :)
Of course when we first got home, my dad was so anxious to show us his new toy.

Sunday we went to church then met up with Ryan and Rachel's family for brunch.

Cole and Cameron love playing together and for the most part are very nice to each other :) How cute are they, walking together after brunch!?!

Sunday evening was a fun night! My mom and I went to dinner with some long-time friends, Kaye and Courtney and Rachel also joined us. After dinner I was VERY surprised with a little birthday surprise party...even though my birthday is a couple weeks away. It was so fun to see all my friends and lots of family. What a fun night!

Monday morning, we had to make a trip to the mall and Rachel had a doctor's appointment so Nick, my mom and I took Cole, Cameron and Finley with us. Even though it was one adult per child, it was still pretty crazy!!! We didn't spend a lot of time at the mall because if someone wasn't pooping their pants, they were having a meltdown. We were tired after that trip! :) After all the kiddos took naps and watched a little cartoons (how cute are these 3??), we headed over to Ryan and Rachel's to celebrate Ryan's birthday.

We enjoyed some yummy pizza and carrot cake that Cole and Cameron decorated. I'm sure you can imagine what it looked like :) If I wouldn't have helped, there would have been sprinkles in a two-inch radius :)
Papa absolutely loves having all his grandkids together and Finley definitely loves her Papa!

And Mimi is so funny, always making her laugh

Ryan got to blow out his candles, with the help from Cameron, and opened some presents.

Cole also had fun playing with Cameron's toys. We don't have a lot of these around our house yet!

Sydney is the sweetest baby! Love her!

Wednesday, Rachel and the girls came over so I could teach her how to make bows, rosettes, etc. Luckily Uncle Ross and Nick were around to help out with the kids while Rachel and I were being crafty.
Finley and Sydney had fun playing on the floor together. Finley was definitely curious about this other baby!

Finley also enjoyed making out with my mom. She only did it to my mom and was so funny. Finley would just grab her face and try to eat it.

That evening, my dad took us to the park to play for a bit. The weather was great, but once the sun went down, it sure got chilly!
Papa is so funny!!!

Finley even joined us at the park, doesn't she look cozy?

That evening, Nick and my brother Ryan went to an Avalanche game. I'm sure Nick was ready for a night away from the kids. When you aren't used to being around them 24/7 I'm sure it can be tiring! Ryan and Nick had a great time and I'm so impressed that Rachel let Ryan go, since they were hosting Thanksgiving at their house the next day, ha!

Thursday, we hung out for the morning at my parents and we actually got some family pictures.

After Cole woke up from his nap that afternoon, it seemed like he just wasn't acting quite right. I guess I just thought that he was tired because he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. However, once we headed over to Ryan and Rachel's for our Thanksgiving feast, we could tell he definitely wasn't feeling good. While sitting at dinner he asked to go to bed. He went a laid in Cameron's bed for awhile and when he came back down he was running a temperature. Nick and I decided it would be best to take him back home because we didn't want him to get any of the kids sick. So our Thanksgiving got cut short but we still got to eat some yummy food!
Ryan with Cameron...silly dad!!!

Nick dancing with Cameron and Cole....this was about the only activity Cole did all night, poor guy!

Poor Cole had a rough couple of days after that. He ran a temperature for a couple more days and was pretty much down and out till we left for home on Saturday. I have never seen him like that and I absolutely hated it! We had a house-full of little kids at our house Friday night and Cole didn't even try to come play, he just laid in bed upstairs and watched tv and slept.
He did venture outside a little bit to get some fresh air and sit by the fire.

After having 2 nights of VERY interrupted sleep and lots of crying, Cole turned the corner on Saturday. Nick thought it would be best to take him to the clinic, especially since we were flying home that night. Doc told us that he had an ear infection, which caused the fever. Cole has not had an ear infection ever so I was pretty shocked at the prognosis! He never said his ear hurt, but maybe the sleepless nights should have been an indicator...
Again, we were so thankful that Cole started feeling better Saturday afternoon because we were flying back to Dallas that night.
Papa with Finley before we left

Before we left, my dad gave me a ride on the motorcycle. This was my first time on one and it was pretty fun. I think what's scary is knowing there is absolutely nothing between you and the road! We didn't go far, just around the neighborhood but my dad absolutely loves it!
Finley loved his helmet too! she thought it was pretty interesting

We obviously don't like saying good-bye to all the family but my bed had never felt so good the night we got home!! We didn't get home till about 11:00pm so you'd think the kids would have slept in right??? Nope....7am, they were ready to go....ugh!!!!
We spent the day getting all our Christmas stuff out and set up and Cole had a blast helping out this year!! It's so fun to see your kids understand what Christmas is and participate in all the fun! He helped put ornaments on the tree, even though his were all on the same branch, ha!

Nick's parents came up and watched some Viking football and Dennis helped with the tree. Dennis and Tracy are headed to London for awhile so we wanted to see them before they took off. Tracy had to spend a little time in Minneapolis this past week so she brought back some goodies for the kids. Cole got these cute Viking slippers...they are hilarious!

We are now spending the next couple days getting everyone healthy (yes, Finley and I both came home with colds). Again, we had such a great time in Colorado will definitely miss my family! My parents were so gracious with sharing their house with our crazy family and also getting lots of fun goodies for the kids throughout the week. We so appreciate everything!