Tankersley Thanksgiving!

Every year we have a fantastic get together with the yummiest of foods on the prettiest farm ever :-) This year, we were blessed with some beautiful weather and a UGA game that didnt come on until 7pm (aka: we actually all got to visit and chat and let the kids play! it was wonderful for the few of us non-football lovers)

We decided to bring a couple of outdoor toys for the kiddo's to play with... and instantly Avery wanted to play with Mack's train! She was SO cute on it! And Mack thought it was TRAGIC to have to share! lol

Oh my word! How precious is this picture?! I wish I would have already have had my portrait lens at the get together! This was taken with my 55-200 mm lens in manual. I was so excited to get a good pic in manual! I am much more comfortable shooting in auto (because I'm always afraid of missing out on a great moment or smile!) but am getting a little more comfortable in manual... it really does produce such better quality even for an armature like me!

Back to auto mode. See the huge difference?! This year, Samantha brought her FIANCE! She's getting married March 15 and we are excited to be adding to the Tankersley clan! :-)

Back to Manual. Gosh, I've GOT to get comfortable with this all the time. Especially outside with good light. Here, Jeff was telling Mack it's ok for Avery to play with his train and we have to share. Does anyone else's 2nd kid have a hard time sharing?! Rhyan has typically been so good about it and poor Mack struggles!

Look how happy this sweet girl was just pushing the train around! She was so adorable!!!

And the second she stepped away from it, Mack swooped in to take back the train. HA! So stingy!

I wish I could have gotten a good smile out of Avery! How sweet is this?!

In the meanwhile, Rhyan had a GREAT time riding her bi wheeler around! This was actually a yard sale find (by my mom FOR my mom's house) that we "borrowed" and Jeff spray painted it white and pink for our pink loving princess! And she loves it!

Inside, the twins were having a great time playing with all the fun toys that Abby and Liz brought! They are SO cute, yall! It was so fun watching all the babies play together!

We enjoyed a GREAT dinner (as always!) and then I had the bright idea to try to get a picture of all the 2nd cousins together. Which proved to be tough impossible. 4 kids 2 years old or younger offers a challenge. However, I was pretty impressed with how the littles did... minus Mack, who found the whole process to be completely tragic! Oh, the tears. Oh, the weeping and gnashing of teeth! ha!

This one is absolutely hilarious to me! Mack is wailing and Avery and Elle are looking at him like "whats wrong with him?!". Good question, kids. LOL! Bless his heart!

So after that breakdown, we finally got Rhyan into the pic. Leave it to my kids to prove to be difficult. Geez!

And by then, the littles were done. Shocker ;-)

And Mack was having a great time... RUNNING away from me!

We decided to try to get a few family shots, too! Uncle Brian and Aunt Becky's family.. growing!!!

Jason, Liz and sweet Avery!

And an attempt at our family... not so successful, but no tears. So we'll call it good to go!

This was as close as we got to "good"... with my windblown hair. Oh well. Smiles all around! Woohoo!

And the whole Ford clan! What was funny is that Rhyan insisted on standing next to Avery (that girl LOVES her baby cousin!) which displaced Liz to being next to Jeff like they are a couple. LOL! Oh, the woes! ha!

I really appreciate that Andy and Ronni like pics with the grandbabies and dont mind posing for a few. Somehow, I only got pics with Grandad?! We are so disorganized and its always so chaotic so we get what we get. But I thought these turned out SUPER cute! This boy LOVES his Grandad :-) And I'm pretty sure his Grandad eats it up!

How INCREDIBLY precious is this?! Oh my word. I could eat mack up! Framer, right?!

And when I ask their Daddy for pics, I get nothing but groans and moans and whines. And fake smiles!

But I resorted to bribery and got a decent smile out of the 33 year old manchild. (kidding)

And I honestly wish I would have taken EVERY pic at this angle with that tree in the background. How pretty is that?! And how cute are these boys?!

And one of me and my girl. Mack refused a pic with me. ONLY with his Grandad. See how biased he is?!

I'm SO glad we got this one! I'd like to crop it a bit and frame this one too! So sweet :-)

Uncle Wayne tried teaching Mack some football!

These two are getting hitched in LESS than 2 months! I'm so excited for them! I remember when Jeff and I got engaged and Samantha was still just little and she was so cute and excited for us... its fun getting to see HER be the bride! And she will be a GORGEOUS one, dont you think?!

Liz brought a craft for the kids to make! Rhyan LOVED the idea and was all about it! Mack was napping by this point (and can I just say that Aunt Cathy is SO sweet and in preparation for his nap, she had prepared him a little pillow with an Elmo pillow case?! How cute! he loved it!!!). So we set one aside for Mack to take home to decorate, per Rhyan's request. I love that she always thinks about her little brother!

We truly had a FANTASTIC time! I was so excited that so many of the family could make it! Jenny (who was preggo with TWINS!) was on bedrest and unable to come so we missed her. But we really had a GREAT turnout! It was awesome to get to sit and visit with Sue Ellen (who is a traveling nurse) and learn more about her work in California and her plans for the future! And I know Jeff and Daniel had lots of great talks about the woes of teaching Math in the public school system. The girls bonded over parenting struggles and joy and in general it was just a great visit! Just one more thing to be thankful for this thanksgiving season!