Thanksgiving, Mississippi Style!

There's something about heading down to Mississippi following a Thanksgiving celebration at my Grandma's house in Bartlett that just feels right. Growing up, we'd always make the trek down to Mississippi to see my dad's side of the family following the big feast at Grandma's house. This year, T&E were also able to head down to Mississippi after spending Thanksgiving at my Grandma's so they could see their dad's side of the family!

One of the highlights of the trip for the girls was getting to watch the Florida State game with not one, but TWO, hardcore fans: their dad AND their Uncle Alex! Here, Alex is trying his best to teach Evangelyn the virtues of loyalty to the Noles, even when they break the hearts of their fans. By the way, we were SO happy to have Alex with us all the way from Chattanooga! Last year, he had to work over Thanksgiving break, so it was extra-nice to have him home again this year! :)

Alex did his best to instill in the girls an early love for sports over the weekend. Alas, I am their mother, so they're much more likely to develop a love for shopping. At least he tries. 

Tamsie became obsessed with the neighbors' dogs this weekend. Here she's probably woofing like one of them to show off for her YaYa. She hasn't stopped talking about those dogs since, and now she has developed a whole new appreciation for her Doggies book. She woofed along as I read it to her this morning! 

Mrs. DeeDee's tree... so pretty! I love that her Christmas decorations were already up and in place for our visit!

Evangelyn soaks in YaYa time while biting on the ribbons on her dress. Apparently they double as excellent teethers - who knew?

Tamsie cuddles up with YaYa. Here we have caught her in the act of kicking her feet out from under her blanket. Homegirl hates having her feet covered up and always has. Even in her NICU days, her nurses couldn't get her to keep her feet tucked inside her swaddle blankets. In one of her most impressive feats (har!) yet, she actually removed her boots in her sleep on Saturday night! Tamsie decided to debut this little trick while Chris and I were visiting with my cousin Keri and her husband Bryan, who live near Chris's family.

And speaking of visiting with Keri and Bryan, I completely failed to get a picture of us hanging out, so instead I thought I'd just post this retro photo of Keri and me at Meemaw's house from a few years ago -- back when Keri wore Care Bear shirts and my hair stuck straight up. OK, maybe this was more like 28ish years ago... but we decided that 1998 was only a couple of years ago, so this can't be too far removed from that, right?

Uncle Alex and his protege in Noles fandom, Evie.

Evie loves the lights and Christmas decorations at YaYa and Papa Herbie's house!

Tamsie's first visit with Santa! ;) Love that little toothy smile!

So this wasn't taken in MS, but I thought it was funny regardless: Evie thinks it never hurts to have a back-up Wubbanub, ...

... and Tamsie agrees wholeheartedly.

On a sad note, apparently I am no bueno at caring for more than two living things at a time. This is the unfortunate end that all plants of mine have been meeting lately. And now, a moment of silence for the mums...

Video time! 

In this video, Tamsie takes some steps before collapsing. The best part is that Uncle Alex takes full responsibility for her fall, even though he really had nothing to do with it! :) He sure does love those girls, and they're pretty fond of him too.

One word: giggles!

I made this little video while Chris and Alex were watching the game. Herbie had just come by and given them each a new visor, which is what Alex has on top of his hat and what Chris puts around E's neck. This is just typical of gametime playtime of the weekend! :)

Tamsie giggles at Evie:

That's it for today! We had a WONDERFUL time with our Mississippi family over the break, and we can't wait to see them all again soon! We missed Noah, who was on a church youth trip to Dallas, and Jennifer and Tyler, who had to get back to Memphis for work and school, but other than that it was perfect. Jennifer and Tyler will be getting married December 23rd, so we'll all be reunited very soon - can't wait!! :) Once again, there is just so much to be thankful for this year.