Thanksgiving 2011 in Louisiana

We feel so blessed to have been able to fly to Louisiana this year for Thanksgiving (thanks to help from Mama, points on credit cards and a little bit of savings)! What a wonderful time we had! I'm sorry that I didn't do a better job of taking pictures.

The Airport: I was so worried about packing b/c Lou wasn't willing to pack things as much as he did the last time. So. . I spent a month preparing mentally and physically and we made it just fine (packing all of our luggage). I took a picture of Emma with all of our luggage.

The Harris Oasis: This is the beauty that we were excited to see! A couple of pictures include the houses of neighbors across the street. I tried to capture the house at different angles and sides and only took pictures of some of the trees.

Lemon Heaven: We had homemade lemonade every day from these wonderful lemons!

 

Emma & Isaiah with their produce from the farm. . .they spent hours outside harvesting.

Is this what heaven is like? Gehrig thinks so! He was in heaven picking all the fruit and nuts he could find, but needing a bit of help to reach the bananas!


Liam: The Main Attraction. This was the first time any of the Harris family had seen Liam, so he got quite a bit of attention!

Xavier's Birthday Party: They threw quite a party for our 6 year old cousin. Bounce house, extra friends, shrimp boil, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, cake, etc.

Shrimp Boil: If you look at the expressions on the faces, you'll see who loved it and who wasn't so sure (Emma)! Terry (top middle picture), Renea's husband was the chef. Mama made a crazy face for me! What a sport! :)

The next several pictures show many of the family and friends we saw, but unfortunately, not all of them--that's where I really should have done better with the camera.

Lou with his Mama & oldest sister, Kay

 

And you thought Lou was tall. . .here he is with his nephew, Robert:

 

Gretchen & Robert

 

Crystal (pregnant with her first!) & Gretchen

 

Ericka & Liam

 

Gehrig III & Davion

 

Kay & Earli (Donnell's daughter)

 

Clarence (Crystal's husband) & Liam

 

Terry (Renea's husband)& Liam & Emma

 

Renea & Isaiah

 

Kay, Liam & Earli

 

Emma, ever the poser! :)

 

Gehrig & Liam (I love this picture of the brothers!)

 

Clarence (a family friend/brother & his family)

 

 

Robert is always so fun to give my boys haircuts. Here he is giving Isaiah a haircut. . .

 

and Damian . . .

 

Robert playing with Liam. . .he was so cute with the kids! He needs to get married and have his own now! :)

 

Can you believe the difference in size? So cute!

 

Isaiah as the big brother! So cute!

The Snake: Part of the adventure was looking and even finding a snake!

Sassy: the family dog that Emma and Isaiah couldn't get enough of.

Dr. Gecko: Ah. . .Dr. Gecko. . .Lou found this cute little lizard (he was only about as long as the tip of my thumb) in the doorway and gave it to Gehrig. He made a little home for him and took him everywhere with him. When it was time to go home, he wanted to bring it with him. He carved out a pecan shell, stuck it in the pecan and put it in his pocket through security at the airport (all his idea--not mine). . .Amazingly, he made it and survived for almost two months. We finally found him a good little habitat and sadly, the first day in his new home, he died. I felt so bad. He was really the cutest lizard I've ever seen!

Evidence I was there. . .yeah, the only picture of me taken on the whole trip. And not a good one. Oh well, at least it was with my man! :)

Great Sleep at the end of the day: They actually slept quite well and looked so angelic while sleeping. Gehrig and Damian woke up when I was taking the pictures, so you can tell they're faking it. I loved how Isaiah set the doll right next to him to sleep! :)