A Time for Thanks

Thanksgiving to many is really just a holiday reserved to eat a lot of food, watch football and spend some time with family. Well to the Ayers household it holds a different meaning. Several years ago Greg and Pam, Jason's parents, decided that this holiday should be a day meant to tell those you love how thankful you are for them and what better way to say it than giving a gift? So instead of giving gifts on Christmas they chose to give each other gifts on Thanksgiving and reserve Christmas as a time to remember Christ's birth and giving to others the way God gave his son to us. 

Being a part of this tradition for the last several years has been very special to me as I watched Jason's parents and siblings go person by person telling them why they are thankful for them and declaring the things of God over their life. It's funny to think that we "know" that our family loves us and that it doesn't really have to be said but when someone does, or several people do, it touches your heart in a way you can't imagine.

This tradition is something that Jason and I have decided we would like for our family. I struggled in the beginning thinking about all of my Christmas morning memories and knowing that my children wouldn't have those, so as a slight compromise Jason gave way and came up with a plan to spend the day before Thanksgiving as a family decorating the Christmas tree so that Thanksgiving morning our children would be able to wake up and open presents under the tree. A silly concept but one of the things I remember most about my childhood. 

This year was particularly special because it was the very first Thanksgiving with a child of our own. It was so exciting to be able to share this time with our little girl and although I'm sure the only part she understood was that she was opening gifts we took the time to tell her how thankful we are that God gave her to us and declare the plans that God has for her future. It was so special and fun to watch her tear into her gifts and to see her literally jump for joy when she saw her new playground outside. 

A Gabba Gabba shirt!

We had to hang a sheet to cover the surprise!

Playing with the dress ups G'ma and G'pa gave her

It's a day I won't forget and it's a tradition I'm glad to carry for many years to come. 

Halloween

Here's a few pics from Halloween:) Gia was a little unsure at first because our first stop was Grandma and Grandpa's house where she was allowed to pick her candy from the same bowl we had been telling her not to get into just the week before. We went to a trunk or treat at the church down the street and she quickly learned that she was receiving candy and because she was so darn cute she could take just about as much as she wanted. She was only traumatized once by a scary mask and it of course was her uncle "guycle" who was the culprit. She's still talking about it!

San Diego

SO it's been awhile {again} but that's the life of a first time mom right? It feels like it's only been a few weeks since our precious girl came home to us but in reality it's been almost two months! Two wonderfully amazing months!! Life around here has been rather hectic and well, a little different to say the least. But we got to take a much needed vacation to beautiful San Diego and I thought I should share...
This was our very first vacation with miss Gia{and we're pretty sure her first vacation ever} and we were a little unsure of how she would do on the 6 hour drive, so we tried to strategically plan to leave right at nap time. Well, this worked pretty well for about an hour and then she woke up and we resorted to things like Yo Gabba Gabba to keep her occupied:)

Gia and Daddy touched the starfish!

 The whole week was so much fun and it was exciting to experience so many new things with her! We went to Sea World, she loved watching the fish and seeing the penguins but could care less about the shows unless something was jumping in the air.

Gia watching Daddy instead of Shamu

We fed the Sea Lions

We went to the San Diego Zoo, where she had a melt down the whole time we were on the bus tour and fell asleep just as we got to the Pandas.

She's a sunglasses girl just like her mommy!

And we went to the beach! I think this was her favorite part of our entire vacation! She loved playing in the water and especially loved playing in the sand! She even allowed us to bury her, she actually helped:)

It was a wonderful week and I can't wait to go again! She did such a great job with everything we threw at her! We are so blessed to be starting our new family with this precious girl!