The weekend of all things family continued today at my folks’ place! (Uh, nevermind that sign in the background… 
)
Today my sister-in-law, brother and nephew were able to join the party, as they were out of town on Thanksgiving. Finn was sporting a new ‘do that makes him look about 16 years old. Right?!?!
I am so thankful that my Mom is such an incredible caretaker and, well, takes unbelievable care of us all. In addition to all she did on Thanksgiving, she had a wonderful lunch made for us today!
My brother requested her signature Thanksgiving dishes he missed on Thursday including crispy, buttery Party Potatoes Deluxe,
and sweet, creamy Grandma’s Holiday Salad.
In addition, she also had some boooomb Maid Rites going in the crock pot,
and Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup simmering on the stove. BLERG! I am going to explode from eating so much this weekend!
After lunch we burned some calories laughing our buns off at dear Finn. He found a whistle while playing with Ben this afternoon, aaaaand it was kind of hysterical.
Your turn!
Finny went down for a nap next so the adults had some pie and played some cards – my favorite!
Hearts was the name of the game and, while I didn’t win, I didn’t lose either. My Dad claimed that title. Teehee.
I’m sad that this weekend of family time is coming to an end. We have been together every single day since Wednesday night, and it’s been a blast.
Alas, my little brother flies home to Denver tomorrow, and it’s back to a normal routine for the rest of the family.
At least we’ll get to do it again in less than a month for Christmas, and I’ll also get to spend a whole week with Ben’s fam when we head to DC the day after. Ahhh, I just love this time of year!
In the meantime, Ben and I are winding the evening down with a blanket, movie,
and a roaring fire. Perfect way to end the night. 
Hope you had a terrific weekend! Talk to you tomorrow!
~~~~~
What are your plans for the holiday season this year?
i love reading about your family time! i have a close family as well and can relate to how wonderful this time of year is for everyone.
on a different note, i can’t believe your christmas decorations are all up!! you are much more on top of things than i! cute stockings
happy thanksgiving IGE Fam! such awesome photographs, Kristin!
What a beautiful family! It is crazy how quickly Thanksgiving can come to an end… good thing we have more holidays and more family time to look forward to next month!
Looks so fun! Love family time.
I have a lot of hope that I’ll get to stick out the holiday season in Eastern Iowa this year and not have to travel all over the state. I’m looking forward to spending time with my immediate family (husband and kids) without the pressures of a commercialized and materialistic Christmas. I’m hoping that we’re all healthy and have fun!
What a great day! I always love seeing the fun your family has together, my family isn’t super close, so it’s so nice to see families that genuinely love being together. For the holidays, we always do Christmas Eve at my parents and Christmas Day at my grandma’s. My husband is Italian and misses doing the Feast of the Seven Fishes with his family, so that’s a tradition we hope to do when we have our own family some day.
So glad you had so much fun! Finn is such a cutie pie!
I will be anxious to see &hear about Ben’s family too! Fun fun fun. I love Christmas. Put my tree up & even made a Hobby Lobby run &deco making!!
Your long wknd w/ the fam, sounds and looked wonderful……..! My family is together 3-4 hrs and gone………I love that you guys want to hang out for days:)
I want your family!!!
Your family is so adorable! Especially your nephew–He’s almost as cute as my little boy!
My holiday plans are simple…I work the morning of Christmas Eve, and that evening, I’ll wrap presents on behalf of Santa. Christmas Day, we’ll spend at home. Now that my son’s old enough to be aware and start understanding more about Christmas, we prefer to stay home, and start developing our own traditions.
Cute little family!
BTW! Your hair is getting super long!! How long has it been since you cut it last! 
Love it!
Oh yah girl, TOTALLY of driving age
seriously though he does look a bit older if you just look at his hair first. AHHH CRISPY TATER STUFF
Go Falcons! Love your husband’s sweatshirt!
Looks like you had a fun Thanksgiving weekend! We will probably come home for about a week or so, my husband and I grew up in the same town and our families live 10 minutes apart. This is our first (married!) Christmas and we’re still working out how we’re going to split the holiday!
I love the new blog lady! I am not entirely sure when you changed it, but this new design is rather gorgeous
Your family is do darn cute too!
Loving the new blog layout! Looks fantastic!
xoxo from Trinidad
you and your family make my heart smile! looks like you had a wonderful holiday weekend…glad you enjoyed it! i tried the party potatoes deluxe recipe….holy YUM!!
Family time during the holidays is the best. I can’t wait for Christmas. I wish I had a fireplace in my apartment, they’re the best!
What a lovely holiday weekend! Haircuts always make the toddlers look so old!
What movie are you watching? We rented Super 8 and Rio. Rio for the kiddo and Super 8 for the hubs and myself. It wasn’t too bad.
Our Thanksgiving was okay, but the weekend has been bad. Everyone had the flu here. ugh!
We watched Super 8 on Thanksgiving – what did you think? I wasn’t a fan. This night Ben and I watched Easy A (had DVR’d it for a random night) – it was ok!
This sounds like so much fun…I am looking forward to Christmas because I get to go home and spend some good times with my family as well!!
You’re right, he looks SO much older with that haircut! I’m so jealous of your fireplace!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the holiday season! This is my first holiday season living with my Dear and I cannot wait to carry on some of my favorite family traditions, as well as create our own