Thanksgiving in Big Bear

If you have read our blog for any amount of time, you know we get the heck out of Dodge and head to the mountains every chance we can! Thankfully (and a bit shockingly) Andrew's Aunt and Uncle have yet to turn us away and say enough :) This year, Andrew actually got to take part in Thanksgiving and family time....(Last year, he worked the morning of T-day, the whole drive up their house in the afternoon and put in no less than 8 hrs. a day of work on the laptop while we were with them!) This was a special year for us because Andrew's grandparents flew in from Iowa. Anytime we can have with them is so wonderful!

Asher got lots of cooking time with cousin Maggie and Great-G.ma Maggie. She taught him how to make pumpkin pie! These days no one can cook or do anything in the kitchen without Asher wanting to take part. He is definitely a Master Chef in the making :)

How many cooks in the kitchen is too many?!?!

Asher only let Great G.Ma help him stir for about 5 sec! She didn't realize he is such a "big boy" and can stir all by himself ;)

Stacking is a favorite activity these days! Asher definitely prefers the least amount of clothes possible to play in :)

Please don't be mad Momma! It's Thanksgiving! I promise I won't eat any more cherries off the pistachio pudding dish!

Helping Daddy...Notice the piece of wood is almost as big as Asher! Andrew and Mark split all the wood themselves!

Picking out some sweets, that he actually had never tried before, but was sure he wanted! :)

Asher got hours and hours of playtime with Maggie, got to help build fires with Uncle Mark and Daddy, go into Big Bear village and see Mrs. Claus and Santa arrive on a fire truck and visit his favorite candy/fudge shop! For Andrew and I, it was such a blessing to be away from the desert, sit by a fire, watch lots of TV and hear stories from Andrew's grandparents! Andrew's grandpa can remember being a small boy, going to visit one of his Aunt's who had a frig/freezer and getting an ice cube as a treat!! He could still recall the wonder for him and his siblings to see ice cubes and a refrigerator! Thanksgiving night, we sat around the table listening to their stories, while Mark videoed it. I am so thankful we were able to record some of their stories! I look forward to next year when Asher can contribute to the "what are you thankful for" conversation around the table!