Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a difference a year makes! And just to prove it, here are some pictures of last year's Ottley family Thanksgiving, before this year's. Last year, Jen, Zach, AJ, and Shauntell cuddled up on the guest room bed to watch whatever the movie of the moment was at that time. And the reason they were all up there, I was crashed out on the sofa in the main family room sound asleep (Dad has the picture of that). In my defense, I had just had surgery on my foot the day before and truly wasn't much help. They could have watched the movie downstairs and I never would have known - except we discovered later that DVD player wasn't working so they would have ended up in another room anyway.
Getting ready for the big feast. We always have beautiful table settings. Yes, that is wheat with lighted candles - and in front of the toddlers. Needless to say, it didn't last long.
Brandon and Logan. They're both pretty cute.

Shauntell heps Maya get ready for her meal.

Apparently she was pretty excited to be eating.

I don't know what the occasion was, but she actually let me cuddle with her for a second. That's always a reason to celebrate to me.

And the moment is gone. She's the girliest of our girls - not the pink phone in her hand.

And then we have Briley, climbing in her favorite corner.

With a face and smile like this, how can we not love her!

And she's back to her corner. This time Grandma's there to catch her, or move her, as the need be.

Which brings us to this year:

On Thanksgiving Eve this year, we got a concert courtesy of Maya and AJ.It's not every day you get to here the Xither's strummed.

She was really into our concert.

This year, AJ took charge and did the table. She did such a good job!

Isaac and Logan with their version of playing together.

Logan's turn to shoot.

Isaac's turn involved using the plastic bat. Yes, we know it wasn't the safest game, but it sure was funny to watch.

This was one of the funniest moments of the day - when Logan discovered he was sharing his "starties." He actually was able to stand up and bring the frisbee over to me keeping it as high over his head as he could and not spilling one Smartie. When Isaac was provided with his own, he set his plate right next to Logan's frisbee, and life appeared to be well.

Two seconds earlier she was sucking her thumb. According to Brandon, it was the first time she actually found her thumb. She's is so sweet!

Our oldest grandchild meets the youngest (until May anyway). AJ is actually really good with babies. In fact, she was just about the only one who was able to get the full belly laughs out of Briley and Maya.

Getting ready for our feast.

The head of our family. Plus Aimee and part of Logan.

Brian, Brandon and Logan.

Aimee had hoped that Brooklyn would sleep throughout dinner, but when I went downstairs to get my camera, I heard her crying. After getting permission to get her up, I was lucky enough to be able to hold her through the whole meal. The most miraculous part of all of this was that I didn't spill one thing on either of us. (Yes, sometimes it still feels like I need a bib to eat.)

That would be cousin Brian in the background.

Maya shows off some of her goodies at "Grandma's table."

AJ really did eat more than this - or so I'm told.

Our cool dude, Zach.

Sadie enjoys her feast.

I don't really think you have to have an adventure in order for the holiday to be a success, but maybe Logan did. We are not exactly sure what happened. Something about jumping off a stool. We think he somehow managed to hit the back of his head on the corner of the table, but really aren't sure how that happened. It can be a little bit hard to piece together the whole story when your dealing with a two-year-old and what the nine-year-old sort of, kind of, thought she saw out of the corner or her eye. Long story short, because it was a head wound, there was what seemed like a lot of blood. There was a trip to the emergency room with Brandon and Aimee (with Russ being the "ambulance" driver). And there was one staple put in.

Figuring out what he wanted for dessert (after his emergency room Popsicle).

After all of the picture of his back, I asked for one from the front. None of us is sure why he had to pull out his ears, but who are we to ask.

To me, this shirt would be a lost cause, but if anyone can get the blood out and save it, it would be Aimee.

And, then, of course, shortly after this, there was a collision of the two-year-olds - again we aren't really sure what happened there. (Doesn't it sound like we're doing proper supervision here.) And again, Logan was the one in tears. I think he got just a little bit of a bloody nose, but I only saw him when he had calmed down. I totally missed the funniest part (since I had left to go see Twilight again with Shauntell and Hollie). I guess when he was brave enough to venture downstairs again, he yelled "I'm coming downtairs, nobody bonk me!" We all hope he still likes coming to Grandma and Grandpa's since we do have our Christmas party coming up!