Thanksgiving/Christmas in Memphis

We drove up to Memphis this year for Thanksgiving, and we also had an early Christmas celebration while we were there since we wouldn't be seeing the Bellican Family again until after the start of the new year. It was an action-packed weekend, but we sure had fun! It was so nice just to get out of our daily routine. We drove in late Wednesday night, and we got busy with all the Thanksgiving festivities (food!), so we didn't take too many pictures! (oops!)

The kiddos had fun playing with their cousin James.

Anthony thoroughly enjoyed pushing the (pink!) doll stroller, and James thoroughly enjoyed chasing Anthony around!


little buddies peeking out the window



Saturday morning had our early Christmas celebration--the kids LOVED it!

Honoring the Bellican tradition of pausing on the stairway for a picture before going down to see the gifts.

sweet boys

Lucas enjoys one of his presents--a set of keys with sound effects

The two bigger boys received shopping carts from Santa--aren't they adorable?!?

Lucas and Daddy

Mandy and I took a twin picture--we're getting better about remembering...Now we just gotta remember to get a sister pic with all 3 of us!

Papa took the boys out for a wagon ride--it was a beautiful day!

Look at those handsome boys!

Later the bigger boys had fun spinning around in the desk chair.

Yep, Papa is the instigator!

Meanwhile Meme loves on (feeds) Lucas! Man, this kid can eat!



And the really big boys had fun playing video games!

Anthony loved the keyboard that Meme brought out of storage for him to play.

Lucas loved it too--He just didn't get too many opportunities to play without Anthony shouting, "Lucas! No!"

our "Christmas" dinner--always delicious

Anthony was so excited to receive his "big" gift from Meme and Papa! Look at his face--he already knows what it is!

cannot resist that smile!

This was the look on his face the entire rest of the evening!






Anthony was thrilled to receive his own guitar--now he can play just like Daddy! They didn't have a pick on hand, so they had to improvise!





Here's Anthony's rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus" for your listening pleasure.

And I just had to throw in this short video clip of Lucas jamming out to a little play guitar because I think it is hilarious! I love how he gets his whole body going, just flailing those arms! And then as soon as the music stops, he's crawling away like, "okay, what's next?" So cute!

Thanks for making it a really special time for us, Mom. You always put so much thought into it, and I know these boys just have a ball at your house! Wish we could come over more often--if only it weren't a 7 hour drive..... :(