Thanksgiving (and the "after party")

This year for Thanksgiving, we were with the Ran family. It was the first time since I've been in the family that all the brothers were at Aunt Polly and Uncle Dirk's house at the same time. So things were lively and young! :) 

That evening, after Dirk and Polly's, Matt, Erin and the kids and Seth's parents came back to our house for the weekend. On Friday, we hit up Candylane together. It was chilly but not uncomfortably so, which was nice. Seth, Matt and Emily even did the new drop tower! We ended up getting on quite a few rides and having dinner there. I think the kids would have definitely stayed longer, too! 

Opa being silly on the antique car...driven by Carter! 

We had a really fun time!

"Thanksgiving" on the farm

Because we were planning to be with the Ran family for Thanksgiving this year, we had a little "couple days before Thanksgiving" day at my grandma's house the Sunday before. I made a TALL chocolate peanut butter cake which was delicious! :) I forgot to take pictures inside the house that day but we spent quite a bit of time out at the barn. 

A baby calf was born so while Pa prepped the bottle for the baby, the kids tortured the big cows with their hooting and hollering.

The kids took turns feeding the baby, and even got a ride on the quad with Uncle Seth/daddy!

Carter's first time playing soccer

Well, soccer is just about coming to an end...Carter has one more game on November 4, and then his first season is in the books. I've got to say: soccer is FUN to watch, and I thoroughly enjoyed being soccer mom (and Seth enjoyed being soccer dad) this season. He did SO well for his very first time playing; we were really impressed, actually. He was aggressive, really practiced his footwork, and developed some serious stamina. After each game, we take a picture with him holding up fingers for how many goals he scored. Gramma and Pa pay him $2 per goal, so he has to make sure to get that in the books. Plus, Gramma saves the pictures too. Here are a few of his game day pics. They're not all in the post, but you can tell he had a great time!

I actually really can't wait until the next soccer season! (Addison says she's playing, too, so I'll be a REAL soccer mom then. Good thing I already have the minivan to play the part!)