Thanksgiving chéz nous

...a few photos from our wild, wonderful and chaotic Thanksgiving dinner at M's parents house. We were in Vail for the preceding days, which was a lovely break...although there was none of the snow I'd been hoping for. Sigh. Well...we're planning another trip closer to Christmas, and by then hopefully it will be a bit more wintry.
I haven't had as much time to write lately - I've been busy with other things. But, that happens sometimes. Life takes over. In any case...I have plenty of photos!
QQ bonding with cousin Victoria.
Being reintroduced to cousin Abigail (who was a tad more on the wary side this time around)
QQ definitely wanted to be a part of the action, and though she was occasionally bowled over by the chaos of the bigger kids, she is a tough cookie and was undeterred. The kid can hold her own.
A hug from Victoria.
Safe in daddy's embrace.
Susan and Rebecca cutting the turkeys.
Mommy and Q.

The whole fam-damily.
Q was a little wary of grandpa at first...she's had plenty of facetime with grandma since her first surgery, but has missed out on her grandpa time. All it took was a good dinner-bottle in grandpa's lap to jog her memory, however. After that it was all smiles and giggles.
M playing piano with the twins. He's definitely the popular uncle with the kiddos...though I think I noticed a bit of jealousy on QQ's face every time there was another child in daddy's lap.

Warming up to grandpa all over again. Look at that smile!
More piano practice with Abigail
...and QQ wants in on the action.
I don't think grandpa is going to have any trouble convincing QQ to take piano lessons. She's all about the pianos.

Some one-on-one with grandma.
It's good to share the holidays with such a thundering heard of little ones. That's kind of what the holidays is all about, isn't it? It was a delight to hear the twins talking in their twin language - I've heard of it before, but never heard it in person until now. It's a little like whalesong...fascinating and kind of beautiful! And to see Victoria and QQ really bonding for the first time. And it was really good to see QQ holding her own and nosing in on the action. I guess I shouldn't be surprised - in the orphanage, she would have had to make herself heard amid all those babies, defend herself and her toys against arms and feet reaching through the crib bars, communicate with her many roommates. It's only natural that she would be able to hold her own even in a roomful of bigger kids. But it's good to see. It was a delightful first thanksgiving with our wonderful daughter.