Thanksmas 2013

The Courtrights spent another wonderful week in Saugatuck, Michigan for our annual Thanksmas celebration with Jeff's extended family. We cherish our time here every year, and this year was extra special for several reasons. Due to rising airfare costs, we spent most of the year thinking that we just wouldn't be able to make the trip. We were SO thankful to Jeff's Mom and stepdad for helping us out and making sure we'd be there. (THANK YOU, Dave and Judy, from the bottom of our hearts!!) Then we learned that Collin would be joining us in Michigan after his college classes dismissed for the holiday, so we'd be able to have the whole family together again for several days. And finally, our visit was extra special this year due to an extra large helping of .... SNOW!!

2013 Courtright Family Photo

Although it's a long trip and sometimes difficult to coordinate travel plans for all 6 of us, it is always worth the effort and we are so grateful for the wonderful memories we make every year. A big thank you to Aunt Patti and Uncle John for graciously hosting us and our large group year after year. Here's a summary of our 2013 Thanksmas in pictures and captions.

Traveling with our family is always a crazy experience. This year we had 2 flights to Chicago followed by a 3-hour car trip to Saugatuck. Makes for a long travel day but always worth it!




Kevin always finds unique ways to transport the kids through the airport.

How we pass time at the airport.

When we finally arrived at Aunt Patti and Uncle John's house, Kaitlynn was overjoyed to be reunited with her sweet cousin, Lennyn. They are only 2 months apart and were so excited to learn that they love many of the same things (pink, purple, and princesses...what else is there in life?? haha!) Lennyn wasn't able to be at Thanksmas last year due to the arrival of her little sisters--twins Emeline and Willow--so this year's visit with Kaitlynn was like making a brand new friend. They had such a great time together our entire visit!

This cute snowman greeted us at Aunt Patti and Uncle John's home in snowy Michigan.

Kaitlynn and Lennyn, so happy to be together!

Ever since Connor was born, there has been somewhat of a baby boom happening on this side of the family. Connor (7), Liam (7), Lennyn (4), Kaitlynn (4), Leighton (3), Caleb (3), twins Emeline and Willow (1), and now Cousin Jessie is expecting another little one next summer. So Aunt Patti's house is quite the playhouse with all of these kids running around at Thanksmas. It's the one time each year they can all be together--so much fun!

This year, all of the sweet grandmas came prepared with fun crafts for all the kids. Such great ideas!

Wooden turkey craft.

Kaitlynn loved coloring her turkey.

Craft time with Aunt Patti. They made cute edible turkeys out of oreos, candy corns, and Reese's cups. Yummy!

More crafts, this time with beads.

But of course, the most exciting part of the entire trip (for our kids, at least) was playing in the snow. Saugatuck received 12 inches of snow the day before we arrived, and it continued snowing for the first several days of our trip. Such a treat for us warm-weather folks! Thank goodness we remembered to pack the snow gear.

Time to play in the snow! Kevin and Connor worked on a snow speedbump that was obliterated by the FedEx truck, ha!

The snowy speedbump, almost complete.

Lennyn and Kaitlynn, sweet cousins enjoying the snow.

These two were so cute together!

Kaitlynn strikes a pose in the snow.

I LOVE this picture of Lennyn--captures her beauty inside and out.

All the digging warmed Kevin right up.

Connor was covered in snow!

Kaitlynn built this little snowman all by herself and was quite proud.

Time for more fun in the snow!

Collin had to teach Connor how to make a snowball. It's a new skill for us southerners!

Back inside, Kaitlynn and Lennyn never had a shortage of games to play.

And they were so happy when their other sweet cousin, Leighton, arrived. Oh what fun!

Connor was thrilled to have playtime with Liam for a few days.

Jeff was in his element keeping the 3 girls very happy!

Wearing fairy wings, he'll do anything for a smile :-)

For our Thanksmas celebration, we all gather together and sing Christmas hymns with Denny and Matt playing guitar. Such a fun tradition! And of course, the kids' favorite part of the night comes afterwards when we exchange gifts from youngest to oldest.

Jeff and his brother Chris.

Fun with Santa hats!

Kaitlynn loved her gift.

And Kevin was happy to get something warm to wear.

And Connor screamed for joy when he received his gift, the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. Seriously, this kid LOVES his books! By his reaction, you would've thought he'd opened a winning lotto ticket.

The three little princesses.

And after the Christmas gifts comes MY favorite part of the night, when we exchange "girl gifts" with all the ladies of the group. These gals are so creative and thoughtful, it's always so fun to see what everyone has come up with.

My favorite part of Thanksmas -- exchanging "girl gifts" for all the ladies in the family. Such a fun tradition!

On Thanksgiving morning, the family gathers back together and begins preparing for the yummy Thanksgiving feast. We are so thankful for everyone that works so hard to make it such a special meal and memorable day!

Lennyn and Kaitlynn, two little turkeys :-)

Love this picture of Cousin Matt making the annual Thanksgiving morning Bloody Marys. Quite a few takers, ha!

Some pre-Thanksgiving dinner fun in the snow.

Love these precious girls!

Collin and Kevin attempted to build, um, something. Still not sure what!

Year after year, we are so blessed to make such amazing memories with our extended family during the Thanksmas celebration in Michigan. We have so much to be thankful for!

Kaitlynn's Thanksgiving Feast

Kaitlynn's preschool recently hosted a Thanksgiving Feast and the parents were invited to attend. The tables were decorated with placemats and a yummy lunch for the kids. Such a cute event! It was a fun little time together with my girl.

Cousins' Weekend in Katy

In an effort to get the Morgan cousins together this fall, we scheduled a gathering at MeMe's house in White Oak in early November. But then Connor's football team made the playoffs and we instead needed to stay in Katy for Connor's first playoff game. We quickly regrouped and everyone decided to make the drive to our house in Katy to have the cousins' weekend here. We were SO excited to host a fun cousins' weekend and have such a great visit with family.

First on the agenda, attending Connor's early football game. It was a nailbiter, but Connor loved having his cousins and grandparents there.

The girls doing some sideline cheers.

The cousins and Connor.

Renee

Ryah and Makenna

Aunt Alli with Madison, who wasn't feeling well but perked up later on.

Marissa and Kaitlynn -- two peas!!

Enjoying a half-time snack.

Silly girls ;-)

Grand Daddy

MeMe

After the game, we just headed back home and enjoyed some down time together. Jeff took some of the kids behind our house for a walk around the lake and woods. And later, they went on a walk to the park.

Jeff and the girls going for a walk behind our house.

Headed to the park.

Swinging.

More fun.

Cousins, say cheese!

Love these kiddos.

Pajama time.

On the last day together, we enjoyed "home church" with a special treat of donuts and kolaches.

Breakfast in their pajamas on the backyard patio.

It was another great weekend of fun with the Morgan cousins. We're counting the days until we all see each other again at Christmas!

Regular Season Wrap-up

Connor's football team wrapped up their regular season this past weekend. What a great time it has been for all of us! And the best news of all -- they made the playoffs! They've been fighting hard the latter part of the season to earn a playoff spot, and it paid off. We have at least 2 more games in the playoff bracket starting this weekend. Go Texans!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures with captions from the end of Connor's regular season.

Individual player pic. LOVE this!

Connor's entire Texans team. What a fun group of kids and coaches!

At the last regular season game, the kids stood together for a team pic.

Connor made a great block by pushing his man way past the line of scrimmage.

Connor, right in the middle, in his 4-point stance for defensive left tackle. He is almost always the first guy to the line of scrimmage, down and ready to play.

In the game against the Broncos, Connor gets held big-time by one of their linemen, but no flag was thrown.

Connor's response to the ref for the missed holding call. Just like the Pros. LOL!!!

He had to blow off some steam; he wasn't happy about the missed holding call. Seriously. I can't make this up.

Trying to shake off the lineman, again.

Showing us some hustle!

Proud dad with his little tackler.

Great season! Go Texans!!

Halloween 2013

Halloween kind of snuck up on us this year. We didn't talk about costumes until late in the month, so it was going to be tough to shop. I finally talked to the kids about what they wanted to be for Halloween. In the end, their costumes didn't require any new purchases. Connor was his favorite Houston Texans player, J.J. Watt, and Kaitlynn was the Disney princess Repunzel.

These were by far the easiest costumes yet, and anyone who knows my kids would agree that they couldn't have picked any more fitting costume!

J.J. Watt and a Disney princess

 

It's always difficult planning for the big night when it falls in the middle of the week. This year, we were invited to a neighborhood gathering in a nearby culdesac. All of the families gathered and enjoyed some snacks while the kids played and started to get excited about trick-or-treating. It turned out to be such a fun night and we were able to meet many of our neighbors that we hadn't met before.

Some of the kids at the neighborhood Halloween party. They played with a cauldron of dry ice.

After heavy rainstorms threatened all day, it cleared up just in time for the party. Beautiful Halloween sunset!

A pic of all the kids before heading out to trick or treat. So much fun!

Enjoying a Halloween cupcake at the neighborhood party (as if all the candy wasn't enough).

When it started to get dark, the kids quickly scattered off to begin trick-or-treating. We made it around the big circle in our neighborhood, and then we decided to come home and hand out candy to the late crowd. Connor and Kaitlynn loved this part just as much as trick-or-treating!