Thanksgiving in Virginia 2009

As most of you know, we headed up to Virginia on the 25th of November for Thanksgiving.  The trip up there was pretty uneventful.  We actually took a new route, and we really enjoyed the break from the Atlanta traffic.  It was much less congested and nice.  We arrived around 5:30 on Wednesday evening, so we stopped by Ukrops (where Omi works) to surprise her as she was getting in her car.  Then, we headed to the Childress house for some pizza.  After supper, Caleb helped Omi make a Black Forest Cake…he was so proud of his work. 
Thursday brought Thanksgiving dinner.  We were joined by Uncle Ed and Aunt Pat (Opa’s brother and his wife).  The meal was yummy, and there was plenty to go around (and for leftovers).  Later in the afternoon, we were joined by cousin Barbara (Uncle Ed and Aunt Pat’s daughter).  We enjoyed a Skype conversation with Uncle Patrick, Aunt Darcy, and the newest Childress member…baby Harper.  Harper joined the family on 9/5 at only 31.5 weeks gestation.  She is doing wonderfully, and we are all thrilled that she’s home and thriving!  After a little dessert, Brian and I headed over to visit his best friend, Dave.  We enjoyed a game of Apples to Apples (along with some adult beverage).
Friday, we exchanged gifts with Omi and Opa.  Since they are going to Germany for Christmas, we decided to go ahead and do the gifting while we were there.  The boys had fun and got some great gifts.
       That afternoon, we headed over to Portrait Innovations to attempt taking family pictures.  However, after realizing they were about 40 minutes behind schedule, we decided to bail.  We tried to take some pictures once we got back to the house, but I didn’t get too many decent shots.  Here are some of the shots I did get.  :)

That evening, Brian and I went out to dinner with Dave and his wife.  It was a great time, and we always enjoy spending time with them.  There’s NEVER a dull moment when Brian and Dave are together.
Saturday we goofed off around the Childress house.  It was the day that Caleb finally lost his wiggly front tooth.  Let me just say…it was quite the ordeal.  Omi was finally the one who was able to sneakily get the tooth out.  So, now our big guy is getting his two front teeth for Christmas (he lost the other one the night before we left).  After the whole tooth ordeal, Caleb deserved a little treat.  So, we headed out to Kohl’s.  We picked up some winter wear for our after Christmas trip to Beech Mountain, NC.  Caleb also got a Nerf Blaster gun…fun times.  Then, we went to enjoy some dinner at Chili’s.  When we returned home, Uncle Ed and Aunt Pat dropped by with a little something from the “tooth fairy” for Caleb.  He was stoked to be getting so much money.  He racked up I tell ya.
Sunday we got up and got everything packed.  Then, we made the trip home.  Well, it was NOT uneventful like the trip up.  It was CRAZY!  We took the same route home, but it took an hour longer.  Traffic kept being stop and go, and we had no idea why.  The Garmin GPS was showing no signs of a traffic delay, and we couldn’t see any cops or wrecks in the area.  But – it was just CRAZY how bad and slow the traffic was.  We kept taking little detours, and one of our detours actually took us across the huge bridge in Savannah, GA.  It was a great sight, and we were pleased that we were able to see it.  We finally made it home.
We had a GREAT trip, and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.  I hope you all had just as much fun on Thanksgiving.