The Days After Thanksgiving

I have a really large extended family. Both my mom's side and my dad's side are big, so it's a big deal when everyone's in one place for a holiday like Thanksgiving. To take advantage of it, there are always lots of "auxiliary" holiday events in the days surrounding the big day of celebration!

On Friday, we woke up (entirely too early for my sisters and me after a late night of Black Friday shopping!), and my entire extended family on my mom's side went to a Christmas tree farm. We've been doing this since I was a toddler, and we still go even though no one actually cuts down a real tree anymore! 

Christmas trees and fall leaves... lovely!

My sister and my cousin

Fresh wreaths in the store!

Jeff and my sister, Kristen

This Christmas tree farm has plenty of space to play around... like this cutout:

...and this old tractor:

The boys had an epic tetherball game:

The little girls played nicely over by the slide...

... and my dad attempted to play baseball with a football and a giant stick. He's so silly!

Here's a photo with almost all of my cousins on this side of the family (I'm the oldest of 14)!

And here are my parents, aunts, and uncles:

And here are my sweet grandparents!

We had a great time! Friday evening was yet another event - my youngest cousin's third birthday! My Aunt Stephanie made her an absolutely adorable pink cake, and she was so cute when we all sang happy birthday to her! 

On Saturday, we had yet another event! This time it was for my dad's side of the family. It was a sort of combination anniversary/80th birthday event for my grandparents, which we called a "Celebration of Life." Hundreds of people were there, and there was good food, good music, and lots of fun! 

Gran and Grandpa

My immediate family

The event was at the Czech Club in Dallas!

A Table Full of Family Photos

My Grandparents on their Wedding Day

Pretty Centerpiece

More Pretty Centerpieces

So many of my grandparents' friends were there! It was so fun to see them greet everyone.

All of us granddaughters and Jeff and my dad played/sang a polka song to honor Gran & Grandpa:

There was plenty of fun and dancing:

At one point, a bunch of musicians (including Jeff, my dad, and Grandpa) got up on stage to have a "jam session" with the band:

I love this picture. Haha. 

Happy Grandpa! 

It was a fun afternoon/evening, and I think my grandparents had a good time! It was such fun to celebrate them and their life full of blessings and accomplishments!

On Saturday night, we drove back home to Humble, and ever since then I've been burying myself under an ever-growing stack of stuff I need to do for law school. Fun fun fun. If you don't hear from me in the next couple of weeks, it's because I'm trying to study for finals even though I'm a 3L and I already have a job. Motivation isn't as plentiful this time around, but I'm trying.