This year, we spent Thanksgiving in Tennessee. It was beautiful and fun, of course! We love visiting Johnson City, as east Tennessee is so beautiful. Durham is in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, meaning we are smack in between the mountainous west and the coastal east. It's pretty and wooded but kind of flat and not as interesting as the mountains or the coast. SO, traveling west is such a pretty trip.
We got to TN on Tuesday evening and left on Sunday, filling up our visit with lots of family time and lots of food. It was super exciting that Bill was off five days in a row, Tim was there almost the same amount of time as we were, and Rachael rearranged her work schedule so that she was off almost the entire time we were there. Those things are not always a given, as Bill is a doctor, Tim is finishing his last year of medical school, and for the past year and a half, Rachael has been working the 12-hour night shifts at the hospital. Lining up those schedules is HARD. And yes, our family is extremely medical. Between my dad, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law, and my sister-in-law, we are pretty well set. It's enviable, I know, to have so many medical professionals on speed dial. I'd also like to point out that Brad will also (eventually) have the title of "Doctor"...he just won't be any help if you're sick. Although, he is super good at picking prescriptions up at CVS.
Claire got to participate in her favorite activities: playing with Boswell toys from the previous generation, staying up later than her bedtime every night, eating more sugar than she usually gets to, visiting the creek, hanging with the animals, sitting on Grandpa's tractor, and generally getting to do what she wants. And, because my mother-in-law is super thoughtful, she broke her usual "no Christmas up before Thanksgiving" rule and made sure the tree (minus the decorations) was up and ready for Claire to see and help decorate. Claire is INFATUATED with Christmas trees. She also has very strong opinions about trees NEEDING a star as the topper. Since we've been married, Brad and I have used the fancy, swirly "B" that served as our wedding cake topper-rather than a star- on our tree, accompanied by a bow and ribbon. After approximately 1,000 discussions with Claire about why we didn't have a star ("to shine down on BETHWEHEM!"), I caved, bought a star, and packed up by "B" until future years. I'm a pushover, but I'm fine with that. Her Christmas exuberance is infectious and adorable. All that to say, I should have warned Barbara. She always uses an angel...and bless her, Claire was all over that situation. She was fine with the angel for about the first 24 hours, but then the wearing down of the Gran began. Thankfully, she had a star in storage and was able to pull it out to satisfy the NEVER ENDING discussion about the star.
Claire in her element. That garland was rearranged MANY times. Many, I tell you.
Note the tree topper. Gran is a great sport. I have given my mother a heads-up for our visit to her house.
Here's a little Claire conversation about tree toppers that you might enjoy:
Me: Claire, if Gran takes down the angel, who will say, "Glory to God!"?
Claire: The Holy Spirit will come down to you!
We think she got that line from one of her episodes of Superbook. It definitely caught Barbara and me off-guard to hear that out of such a small person. She is a sponge, guys. Watch what you say.
We spent one afternoon doing some serious family bubble blowing in the driveway. Claire was extremely happy and clearly thought it was totally normal for six adults to be blowing bubbles in the driveway.
This might have been a face of pure joy...or an attempt to eat a bubble. Not entirely sure.
The Siblings Boswell (+ Claire)
Tim is actually a wizard.
This is a new favorite of mine. Totally going to print it.
After we finished with bubble blowing, the whole clan (fun fact: did you know that Boswells originate from Scotland, making "clan" a semi-appropriate term in this case? )trekked down to the creek. Interestingly, Claire only played at the actual creek for only a few minutes before deciding to spend time with the neighbors' donkeys, which she called "zebras." Also, zebras say "moo." In case you weren't aware.
Throwing some sticks in the creek, you know, as one does.
Chatting with the zebras.
Getting kisses.
Giggling about kisses.
Zebra trying to give me (or maybe my camera?) a kiss.
Claire and Ray Ray.
Claire and Takia. Takia and Ray Ray are great sports. (And please note Tim's facial expression. It's hilarious.)
The one picture I took on Thanksgiving Day.
One of Barbara's pictures. I love it.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was the Iron Bowl (for those not from Alabama, that's the Alabama-Auburn game). Being an Alabamian, I recognize that this is basically a state holiday to be celebrated, no matter where I am. Thus, I dressed my daughter up in Auburn-wear, put on the only blue and orange that I have that fits currently, and watched the game, hoping for best but preparing for the worst. It wasn't as bad a game as it could have been, so I was happy about that. Claire was a great fan and cheered them on quite well. She can say "touchdown Auburn" and "War Eagle" like she means it, of which I am proud. And seriously, y'all: If you've never experienced an Iron Bowl in Alabama, you really should. It is majorly a cultural event.
Trying to get her to pose in her dress.
Just because the game's on is no excuse to stop the work that needs to be done.
Holding up an "Elsa." And by that, I mean a snowflake ornament.
Leading Sadie around with Daddy's Turkey Trot medal. Yeah, all the 20-30 something aged adults ran in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning...except me. I would say it's because I'm pregnant, but let's be real: it's not happening pregnant or not.
I like to think of this as her "TOUCHDOWN" look, but really I think she was asking Rachael to fly her around.
Claire also cracked us up with her rendition of "Let It Go." She's always liked the song, but she became very committed to it when all of the snowflake decorations started appearing over the last few weeks. She calls snowflakes "Elsa," by the way (I can't imagine too many of you not understanding these references, but in case you don't, Elsa is a character from the movie Frozen and "Let It Go" is a song she sings).
This pink sweater was crocheted by Gran last year and fits her perfectly this year, so we attempted to get a few pictures. These are the two best, I think. Two-year-olds and posing appropriately for pictures = HARD.
We had a lovely time with our family and really tried to make the most of our week. I think we did a pretty good job! Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon. And to close, a few gratuitous shots:
Sadie tolerating Claire. That's the relationship they have; Sadie attempts to tolerate Claire, and Claire tries to be friends with Sadie.
Also, a big thanks to those of you who signed up for Ebates using my referral! I hope it works out for you as well as it has for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment