yo dj, pump this party

i used to blog a lot more. but then we moved to florida and people just won't stop visiting us. so naturally, that takes up all my time now.

after craig left, my mom came. hip hip hooray for grammy! we had been waiting for this day for a long time. and it did not disappoint. we had lots of fun doing a lot of nothing and i enjoyed a little spoiling from my mom.

but then she left us. she left us! and parker cried about it for two days. no lie. it was pretty sad around here. "everything is so much better with grammy," parker would cry. "why can't grammy stay?!" she would ask us forlornly. she sobbed through songs at bedtime because they reminded her of grammy, and she had to be sleeping with just about every blanket, quilt, stuffed animal, neck pillow, and pillowcase that grammy has ever made us.

now that the worst is over, parker still likes to remind us out of the blue, "i'm still sad about grammy."

so next time mom, you can't leave.

and then two days after my mom left, josh's sister jamie and her family came... yippee! we have had the last two thanksgivings with them and no one wanted to break tradition. we love the andersons!

after spending our last two years of major holidays together, jamie and i have really learned how to work well together and put on a good holiday feast. for example: jamie prepares the turkey, cooks two pies, a pumpkin cheesecake, a green bean casserole, a cranberry dessert, and cleans the kitchen three times, while i set up a pandora station and search the house for goggles to wear while i'm chopping onions.

besides eating (which we always do a ton of when we combine forces), we went to a nature reserve and saw three alligators! in the wild! real ones! (we like to give our guests the true florida experience.)

and we went to the beach. in november. at 4:00 in the afternoon. of course.

so, who's next?