Thanksgiving with the Wilkes

Caleb and I had two Thanksgiving dinners this year.  Our first was at Dan and Alecia's where there were 21 people enjoying the food at one time.  It was chaotic, but so amazing to have so many people there to love on and celebrate all the things to be thankful for.   There was so much food to choose from that I'm sad I didn't get to taste some of the desserts.  I've posted some pictures of the Wilkes Thanksgiving.

Here Daniel is stuffing the turkey after giving Micah an anatomy lesson on the parts of a turkey.  

Micah helped making the stuffing by tearing the bread. He was concentrating very hard on this task.

This is the table decor.  Simple, but festive for all the people that would soon be surrounding it.

After helping with the stuffing and while the turkey was cooking, Micah decided to pick out some colorful leaves.  He loves fall and the different leaves.

And Anna was busy taste testing all of the food.  She was so happy that day and gave everyone hugs randomly.  It made my heart melt.  Not mention she looked adorable in her dress and tights.  And boy does this girl appreciate some food.  She might take after her aunt - or just the family she was born in to.

Alecia's mom, Marti, took this picture of Caleb and me.  After stuffing our faces and letting everyone know about our little one cooking in my oven we were so happy!  It was a great day.  Check back for the Thanksgiving with the Steele's next.

Sadie

My parents got a new puppy and named her Sadie.  She is the niece of their last dog, Sally who passed away about a year ago.  Sadie is about 7 weeks old and weighs barely 3 pounds.  She is very photogenic.

My mom loves her!

She is so funny because when she's awake she loves to play... for about 15 to 20 minutes, but then she gets tired and passes out!  The girl can sleep in any position when she is tired.

She really is a pretty dog and it makes everyone so happy to see and touch a puppy.

We spent this past holiday weekend with family and I have a lot of pictures to sort through from both of our Thanksgiving feasts.  Stay tuned!

What I'm Thankful For

This Thanksgiving is so special.  Living 400 miles away from family has been different this year and the fact that we get to visit both of our families for both Thanksgiving and Christmas is amazing.  God has been so good to us this year and I see him working in my friends and families lives everyday... That makes me so thankful.

However, this holiday season is the last one that Caleb and I will have alone.  God is working on a few other unseen things (but definitely felt) inside me.  Next year, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving and the gift of God's life with our own little one.

This is what we saw on October 11th.  A life changing word.  We are so excited!

We had our first Dr. appointment on November 4th and because it was probably the only appointment Caleb will be able to attend, my doctor let us have a sonogram.  Once we saw the heart beating we both lost our breath.  It was so amazing and surreal to think that there is a small, very small human growing in there and that it was ours, it is us.

Here is our little one - about a month ago.

  

I have to admit that I love working in the nursery because I can sneak over to the labor and delivery dept to take a peak at our little one.  Now it has distinctive arms and legs and fingers and toes and a very big head.  The other night I was looking at baby Wilkes and saw "it" playing with its little hands.  I just laid there watching it play and was amazed at what God has done.  Every decision I've been making since we found out has been especially with the health and safety of this little one in mind.  And I love it!

So this year I'm Thanking God for this amazing gift and praying I will make good decisions as a mother.

Wilkes Home Happenings

Since I have been sick lately and have not been up for blogging I thought I would give a small update of life in the Wilkes home.

Remember my basil plant that I was trying very hard not to kill.  We here it is today!

 

YAY!  With some help from Caleb it is still growing!!!

This picture is of my husband's favorite lunch... grilled turkey and cheese.  They are easy and he loves them, score!

This has been my best bud for the past week, raspberry tea.  With a sore throat and cough, this stuff makes me feel all cozy and warm.

And on to the Christmas decor!  I got these ribbons to go on a wreath that we will put on our front door. I'm so excited!!  This year I actually have the time to make our home feel like Christmas and I think I might try a few new recipes as well.

A few more decorations.  This is garland that will go on our tree... a REAL tree that we will pick out when we come home from celebrating Thanksgiving in SC.

We also have candles galore with the best of the holiday scents and as soon as T-day is too-da-loo, we will be playing Christmas music and wearing cozy bedroom shoes.

Lots to do this week!  Hope you all have a great short work week!

A Weekend To Remember

On Friday, November 13, Kari, KatieBeth, and I set out on our trip to Gatlinburg, TN.  However, we did not know what was in store for us.  Here is the 3 of us at my mom's beauty shop before heading out on our weekend bachelorette adventure.

Ahhhh, so happy!

On the way, my tires looked a little low, so KB put some air in them.  This was to be the least of our headaches.

Once on the road, we came upon I-40 in which we quickly realized was closed due to a rock slide that occurred about 2 weeks ago. So, with our trusty GPS (aka Kathrine) we tied another route.  A.... more scenic route.  We were enjoying our mountain ride despite the lack of sleep that KB and Kari had from working 12 hours the night before in the NICU and my uncommonly overactive bladder.  So, we took advantage of the trip only consisting of the 3 of us and the beautiful surroundings.

But, we quickly became delirious and frustrated at the harsh terrain we traveling over and the sways of the roads going up and down 3 different mountains.  In the next 2 pictures we were traveling about 8 miles an hour over large pebbles on a barely one lane mountain road with about a 200 ft drop below.

So I decided to get some fresh air and stick my head out of the sunroof at 8 miles an hour.  Very liberating.

KatieBeth decided to try it also... The fresh air helped a bit with the car sickness.  All of this occurred after we stopped in the mountains countless times to rid ourselves of excess fluids and talking with Park Rangers about a dead Elk that was being investigated due to an unknown reason for departure.

After 7 hours in the car and a story within itself, we finally made it to our cabin where Kari proceeded to cry because she was that happy to be there, I got bit in the face by the neighbor's dog, and we realized we had no food other than the cake I got for the specific purpose of the bachelorette party.

All in all, we had fun, bonded and made some memories that will not soon be forgotten.

Melissa and Trent - Engagement 2

Here are a few more shots from the engagement session.

Melissa and Trent - Engagement

When I got to SC on Sunday, I met Melissa and Trent at the Riverwalk downtown to get some engagement shots for them.  I had a blast with these two, and I felt like a real photographer!

They are getting married in April.

Check back soon for more from their engagement session!

The Peanut Festival

Here in Alabama we have a festival called the Peanut Festival that takes place every October.  Its pretty much the fair around here.  We got together with a group of folks to go check it out and I will say that it is definitely southern and parts of it were very hillbilly!  Hence the first photo.  Yes, as Caleb and I were waiting for the others to get there, we explored a little and found this sign.  Panties $1.00.  Yes, and there were panties for sale.  WOW!  

Caleb wanted a picture with the sign.

This was our view from the hog races.

Our good friends Brandon and Crissy, love the rides and I caught this pic of them looking at the ride that they were about to get on.  It was high and fast, can't remember what it was called, but Caleb said it reminded him of an egg beater.

Since Chic-fil-A and I are on such close terms, I thought getting a pic with the cow would be awesome.

   

This is Jason.  We just met him on this outing, but boy can this guy eat!  And he LOVED being at the festival...He was so much fun to be around.

We actually did have a good time and got to experience a bit more of the Alabama life.