Thanksgiving and an Ode to Cousins

Hello dear blog world. Where in the world have I been??? 3+ months since my last entry! Well, I will tell you...we Kizers are acting on about a 3-month delay right now. We just put our Thanksgiving decorations away! That's what pregnancy exhaustion, a major house project, a busy sweet toddler, 2 trips to visit family for the holidays, and preparing for a baby will do. But alas, the dust is settling (literally), the nursery is ready, the toddler is napping, and I am eager to remember and report on special happenings from the past few months. So, here's to Thanksgiving 2013. We had a great time. But before I go into the details, I wanted to give you some background about the people I spent Thanksgiving with. My cousins. And when I say cousins, that means Ben and Michael, more like brothers, but "cousins" is a term that for me also really represents the whole group of extended family on my dad's side. A group of people I love very much.

Probably taken in 1984. My parents up top, Aunt Jeanne on the right. Across the front are Ben, me, then Michael. Uncle Millard was probably taking this picture.

In my front yard with Ben. 

And now with Michael, too.

Fishing in Rocky Mount at Aunt Shields' house. Catherine has now joined the gang!

We always loved to play on the "riding toys" in the cul-de-sac in front of my childhood home (in the background). Oh, few things compare to childhood memories of unstructured playtime outside. 

And we all love our Aunt Mary Will. She is always so much fun! Here we made cotton candy on Diddy's back porch. (our grandmother)

Emerald Isle was our favorite vacation spot. We were talked into many photo ops, as you can see. :)

Probably taken around the time of my graduation from high school.

I was recently in Rocky Mount and found these and many more great pics from childhood, which I plan to include in the blog from time to time. We used to spend pretty much every holiday with Ben and Michael, not to mention every UNC basketball or football gameday! We saw each other all the time, and our parents nicknamed us the "Fearsome Foursome". But you know how it is, kids grow up and move to various cities and have different schedules, and so it has been awhile since our whole Fearsome Foursome gang, now with spouses and children!, have ALL been together at the same time for a holiday. But this past Thanksgiving, Aunt Mary Will rented 2 houses at Wrightsville Beach, and we ALL made it there for a holiday together! Oh, what a great blessing!!! We even switched our holiday rotation around to make it there. I'm so thankful for these guys and their wives and the whole side of the family. So, being with them is what made Thanksgiving so good and memorable. I'm warning you, prepare yourself for a whole lot of pictures! I just couldn't narrow it down! I want to remember all of these special times.

Here is the whole gang!!! Front row, left to right: Aunt Mary Will, Heather, Geena holding Harper Leigh, Aunt Jeanne, Catherine, my mom Claire, me, Kelby holding Lillian. Back row, left to right: Ben, Michael, Uncle Millard, William, my dad Bunn. (This was taken later, not on Thanksgiving, but I just love that we got one of the whole group!)

So now, on to Thanksgiving 2013...

The thing I love about these pics is that they could easily represent most any Woodard family gathering. Uncle Millard always plays the guitar while we sit around and listen together. Good food is always involved. Oftentimes the beach is involved. And lots of smiles. Enjoy...

Ben & Heather

Michael, Harper Leigh & Geena

Catherine and William

Beautiful.

Also beautiful.

This was one of the first times that it became apparent that God was answering our prayer to prepare Lillian to be a big sister. She willingly shared Bye-Byes and rocked Harper Leigh.

The little girl and the sound.

Some of the sweetest times were holding these 2 sweet girls.

Gotta love the Flotilla, a Christmas parade of boats the weekend after Thanksgiving. Lillian kept talking about it for days. She would say, "And we clapped!"...which was true. :)

Bundling up in the cold to watch the Flotilla.

Thankful.