Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with family. We have so much to be thankful for including each of you who we may not get to talk to as often as we like but graciously take time to read our silly little blog. We are constantly amazed by the miracle of Jack and Luke and the people they are becoming. We are so proud of how they handle themselves and how they treat one another. They fill our life with so much love and joy (with just a dash of frustration--my glasses aren't always rose-colored--potty traning anyday and a little less whining would be nice :)!) and their lives are a true miracle. We celebrated Thanksgiving twice this year with our 1st dinner at my parents house last Saturday. We had a great time with all the cousins! Jack and Luke get so excited to see the older kids and it's hard to believe that there are now 10 of them. Jack and Luke barely sit still, don't eat anything and run around the house constantly--a truly successful kid holiday. Yes it is very loud there and as Dan learned at his first Cogan family Thanksgiving way back in 1998, it's always a good idea to take 2 tylenol before we get there.

On Thanksgiving day we went to the Gallagher's and celebrated with Dan's parents, his sisters family and grandmother. The boys are obsessed with their basement and all the toys down there and love seeing Sarah, Kyle and Rachel. They could play hide and go seek all night long. That night, we went around the table to say what we were thankful for and Luke being the more verbal one said "God and the Holy Spirit" followed by "ambuyances and firetrucks". Every night he thanks God for the "service vehicles"....

While at my parents we tried to take a new grandchild photo with the addition of little Avery Jo-Ann. The shoot was tough, as most are that include 10 kids, but the most comical part was watching the adults act like fools to get their kids to smile. I'm used to it and as a matter of fact, I consider my shenanigans aerobic exercise. I burn at least 5,000 calories after a photo shoot with the boys. You'll understand what I'm talking about after looking at the attached photos.

We are enjoying a long weekend with no plans other than getting the Christmas decorations up. Dan thinks Obama should include a ban on early Christmas decorations adorned before Thanksgiving. I think he's got bigger fish to fry....