Our Angel is growing up: Thanksgiving

As has been our tradition since Justin's Grandfather passed away 5 years ago, we went to Auburn to have Thanksgiving with Grandma's sister and her family, along with ours. This year, we decided to rent a hotel room the night before and the night of Thanksgiving, instead of driving 2+ hours there and back the same day.

We have our nephews (We missed Keith this year) so we rented a 2 bedroom suite at the Residence Inn in Roseville (About 15 minutes from Mingas house). We rented it because it had a full kitchen and would allow me to bake my pies there, and also because we would all be together in the same year.

When we checked in, the front desk clerk tried to tell me that they had overbooked the 2 bedroom suites (And made it seem like it was my fault) and asked if we would take 2 1-bedroom suites instead. I told her that I had 3 children with me and that would not work. She asked if I could take a handicap suite (One bathroom doesn't have a tub- just a wheelchair accessible shower).

We checked in and as I get to our room, I notice that there is no oven. I go back out and find out that it is because of the handicap room. But they offer to let me use their kitchen in the lobby.

The first night, we had Justin's cousin Kevin, his girlfriend Michelle and their combined 3 kids over for dinner. It was great having a little apartment and being able to have company. Joseph was really sick and he was able to just rest in his room with the door closed. It was the first time we had met Michelle and she was really nice. She also had a daughter, Shelby, who is also three. She was adorable.

After they left, Paige & I tested out the pool, which was almost as hot as a hot tub. The hot tub was actually colder. It was awesome. Tyler joined us, and Justin took Paige back to the room and put her down. We bought her a "ready bed" and actually had it set-up in the large closet again (Like Hawaii).

After swimming, I got dressed, grabbed all my stuff and headed to the lobby. I baked my pumpkin pies and hung out in the lobby for a while. Unfortunately, their Internet did not work that well- but at least there was TV.

I went back, talked with my nephews and settled in for the night. Paige was up around 3am and crawled into bed with us. She was itchy and did not sleep that well. At around 5 or so , I stood up and bounced her for a few minutes. She finally fell back asleep and we all slept until around 7:30 or 8am.

We went for another swim in the morning. Then I made my sweet potato casserole and we headed over to Mingas. We had a great time hanging out with all of the family. Justin's Brother Dan, his wife Michelle, and their almost 1 year old Teagan came a little later. Dan was BBQ'ng a turkey in the back of his truck. Teagan is getting so big and is just adorable. We had so much food. One of my favorites was the Jalapeno poppers that Kevin made.

After dinner, the kids played some more. They had a football game in the dark. We took our family picture (Hopefully the Parada's will send a copy). Then we headed back to our hotel, where I took a final dip in the pool.

Paige crawled into bed with us again at 3am but this time she slept with us until 8am. We checked out around 11am and headed home.

Overall- we had a great visit. I think we will probably stay in the hotel in years going forward (Assuming we can afford to). It really made things a lot easier.