Thanksgiving 2013 - A Jackson Family

We had an incredible thanksgiving break! After we arrived at my family’s Wednesday afternoon I helped with Thanksgiving dinner preparations while Andrew ran errands with my brother Brian. After a great pizza dinner, we went to Whitey’s Ice Cream as part of my family’s celebration for completing the Book of Mormon. Andrew and I had temporarily forgotten the reason we don’t take Emily out at night is because she likes to cry a lot after 6pm, so we went along for the fun. Emily was quick to remind us how important her evening schedule is. After getting her home and calming her down, she surprised me while eating with the largest throw-up mess to date. It was so epic that by the time we got her cleaned up not only did I have to change every single article of clothing, but Andrew also had contributed pants and a shirt to the laundry pile. Fortunately, my family was there to help give Emily a bath while we did laundry.

We spent Thanksgiving hanging out and making food. When we needed a break we enjoyed watching National Treasure 2 and playing Rumikub. The missionaries and a lady from church joined us for dinner. I was actually feeling quite sick and ended up sleeping through most of dinner, but it worked out really well because my mom enjoyed taking care of Emily. Being sick on vacation has never been so wonderful.

Emily was dressed in her Thanksgiving best but not quite sure what to make of the turkey. It was 20lbs – more than twice her weight!

My favorite part of the day was watching the Iowa All State concert that my brother Brian played in. This has been a tradition for my family for the last couple of years and it was fun to join in. He got a good amount of screen time (top right), although they missed his two solos. Everyone sounded so amazing and they played some really fun music.

The rest of the break was full of fun little projects.

My family put up the Christmas tree and decorations. Emily and I sat on the couch and watched (still wasn’t feeling well). Emily took a nap under the Christmas tree just to make sure the presents will be comfortable hanging out under there.

We ate pomegranates and played a lot more Rumikub.

I cut Andrew’s hair. With scissors. And it turned out well! My mom gets the credit for the success because she not only taught me, but made sure I didn’t make any drastic mistakes that would result in Andrew needing to wear a hat for a few weeks.

We celebrated Christine’s 13th birthday. She opened presents in the morning and then we made LOTS of calzones for her birthday dinner. She got a curling iron that we were able to test out. Here she is with our first attempt and hanging out with Emily.

Brian made us homemade cinnamon rolls for my birthday present. They were delicious.

My dad made a large breakfast for us each morning around 9:30 so we could all eat together and just talk. It was a fun way to start out the day!

Emily got along really well with her aunt and uncle. Christine watched her a lot for us and helped with diaper changes. Brian discovered that she loves being sung to in his deep voice and German puts her to sleep. Too bad I don’t know any German. Or sing bass.

Andrew caught Emily and I taking a break from all of our adventures. Shortly after this picture Emily was having some tummy time with Brian and Christine. All of a sudden we heard a commotion and Brian was holding her out from his body with a look of complete confusion. She had a major diaper leak – up the front and back – covered up to her armpits. Once again, we were very grateful for some helping hands to give her a bath while we did laundry. And my dad managed to get her now completely bright yellow onsie to return to its usual white state with lots of bleach.

We had a much more successful ride home. Being 30 degrees warmer so we could open our car doors played a big part in everyone’s happiness. We also discovered that if we just stop every 2 hours and anticipate Emily being hungry instead of waiting for her to be hungry, she stays happier for a lot longer. She only cried for the last thirty minutes of the ride! Andrew took care of all the roadside diaper changes and burping so I could get out and take a break after she ate.