Thanksgiving on the "Farm"

The two sweet blessings I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving, we were invited up to visit JT's cousin and his family. They live in Merced, CA. This is approximately 6 hrs away from where we live on a non-Thanksgiving travel day...not to mention traveling with two small children. But we made it, and survived the trip, and are SO thankful they allowed us to come! It was nice to spend Thanksgiving with family for a change!

JT with E, and his cousin with his daughter KB.

The last time we visited with them was last summer. CJ & KB have both changed so much since then! She was excited to get to meet and play with baby E!

And she was such a great helper for me!

Baby E had yams for Thanksgiving! :)

Sweet girls!

KB helping me feed E.

CJ was too busy trying to ride a scooter to be bothered with the girls.

And then there were some trucks that NEEDED to dig in the dirt. Ha!

Bathtime for the cousins! This was SO funny: CJ has two "immediate" cousins so when we told him that he was going to visit his "cousin, KB" he called her his "other one cousin". HA HA!

Merced is out in the country, lots of farms and beautiful orchards all around. Every morning it was so foggy. I absolutely LOVED being there. I thought it was so peaceful, and a nice "vacay" from the hustle and bustle of busy San Diego.

I went out to "help" (watch) JT's cousin give the cows a fertility shot...more on that later...

Our "baby burrito"...when we lay a blanket down for E to play on she inevitably always rolls herself up in it and becomes a burrito. Ha!

The girls playing in their jammies.

CJ & KB petting the kitty.

CJ was enamored with all the animals they had at their house. 4 goats, 3 dogs, 2 cows, a horse and a cat. I feel sort of bad for him that we don't have any pets right now...maybe in a few years...

Beautiful Rosie.

Trying to open the gate.

CJ petting Rosie.

Pulling a wagon around the farm with the doggies.

Me petting Josie.

KB & CJ riding a 4-wheeler!!

JT's cousin took me & CJ on a jeep ride to a dairy next door. It was super cool! I loved learning more about the cows and the milking process. It amazes me how similar it is to humans, and my breastfeeding. I. am. a. cow. Ha ha!

Picking apples to feed the horse!

Here Josie!

Bundled up baby E! :)

Walking back to the house together. These two were a MESS together.

Cousins and kids on the 4 wheeler!

Me & E with the giant pumpkin JT's cousin grew!!!!

CJ got to drive KB's car. I think this picture is hilarious...he's clearly still getting the hang of driving it and it is about to take off underneath him. HA!

Now he's got it...

Giving Mana a ride!

The goats with the setting sun.

Playing on the "playground" as CJ called it (swingset).

Pretty Josie.

Cousins playing together!

Eating Breakfast!

Happy girl!

Puzzle time!

Painting!

CJ teaching his cousin all about trains! 

Another foggy morning on the farm. 

E's first time swinging, and she LOVED it! :)

CJ having fun swinging too!

Kisses from Mana.

Playing on the playset.

Jump! (Note our son's inability to jump!)

Let's walk together instead.

Swinging!

Daddy's little girl.

Rosie & Blackie. Okay, so I spared y'all the pictures (but trust me, I took them. HA!) and I'll also spare you most of the details...but I was SOOO excited because I got to watch these cows get artificially inseminated. And just like how I was so interested in the milking and it's similarities to human production..."AI" and all the processes building up to getting cows pregnant are SO similar to humans and infertility treatments. Crazy!

I got to ride Josie.

And so did JT! He was a natural because they used to own a horse when he was little.

E playing with some cars.

Our family on the day of the USC Gamecock / Clemson Tiger rivalry game. (E had an outfit too, but she was napping when we took this picture and then subsequently had a blow out and needed to be changed before I could get a pic!) We won't talk about the results of the game... ;)

The cousins with the giant pumpkin.

We had such a WONDERFUL visit! We felt so comfortable and "at home" visiting JT's cousin's family. I feel as though his wife and I have been friends forever, it is so easy, and it is so neat seeing the kids play together! I can't wait for the next time we can get together!