Early

The Holidays started early for our family this year. G & G Kim showed up on our doorstep on Thursday -- three days earlier than originally planned. We didn't tell the kids that they were coming, so I was silently giggling as I listened to O's reply to my suggestion that he see who was pulling in our driveway: "It's just S, isn't it?" followed two seconds later by the shriek, "It's Grandma and Grandpa!!! Mom! H! Grandma and Grandpa Kim are here!!!"

When S arrived home, Grandma presented the Monkeys with gifts -- a book and a notebook each:

The next day they were able to participate in our family pictures (more on that later):

They even had a sleep-over in the front room on Friday night with all the boys. J and I had a great little date night of our own in our room watching the most recent episodes of "Glee" and "The Office."

On Saturday after my mom and I bought gifts for O's birthday and our kids' Christmas, S, O, J, Grandma, and Grandpa went climbing:
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and then to Pirate Island. While there, they celebrated O's upcoming birthday by getting balloon animals:

They even had one made for H, who stayed home with me to nap. During those three hours of nap and blessed solitude I made 2 quarts of pumpkin ice cream, one pumpkin pie, and 4 dozen cookies. It was a great afternoon.

On Sunday morning after cramming a turkey into my crock pot, our little family left for church. Grandma and Grandpa stayed home to enjoy the quiet. When we burst in the door three hours later we were greeted by the wonderful smell of Thanksgiving.

At 4 o'clock on Sunday, we had our Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey so tender it fell apart, mashed potatoes, corn, homemade cranberry sauce, rolls made from scratch, rice, kim chee, and home made root beer (a brief bragging post on the dinner to come):

O and Grandpa bonded, Grandma was adored (as always!), and we began our holiday season with a bang just a few days early.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

(On a side note, I really liked having Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before. I actually had forgotten that Thanksgiving wasn't over yet and was puzzled for a minute at the grocery store today as to why there were so many turkeys left in the freezer thing. For me, now that S is out of school for the rest of the week, it's like the week-long vacation after Christmas! I love it!)