Update

What a busy December! Since Gretchen's last blog a couple of weeks ago, many events have happened in the Turner household. Most importantly, Gretchen's union voted to accept their district's contract and not strike. This was quite a relief, and the contract wasn't bad. Last Saturday, Briana and I braved the snow and went to see the men's basketball team play (her 1st men's game; we go to several women's games a year).


On Monday, Briana had her Christmas dance recital.

Last night, we attended a Columbus Blue Jackets game. Through some connections with the club, I got us some incredible seats close to the ice (they normally cost $80 each!).

Tonight we will open presents because we are leaving tomorrow morning for Wisconsin. We will be returning the day after Christmas, so we will have about a week to relax before school starts again (Briana & I go back Jan. 3rd; Gretchen returns the following Monday).

Thanksgiving at the Turners

I am way behind on our activities so I thought I would take a few minutes to catch up. We were host to Thanksgiving dinner this year with Brian's family. It was wonderful to have David, Ricky and Cari come from Texas to celebrate in our home. Briana absolutely loves her aunt and uncles and was thrilled to have them here. They were able to meet Alex for the first time. I appreciated all the extra help I got with him during the festivities. Family arrived late Tuesday and left early Saturday. In between, we celebrated both Thanksgiving and an early Christmas together (since we won't be together for Christmas). It was very special. We had our feast of traditional Thanksgiving fare on Thursday and the contemporary tradition of the Chik-fil-a catering trays of nuggets and brownies on Friday for "Christmas". Hey, at least I only cooked one day(lucky for them and me!). We also went to Dave and Buster's on Wednesday night. For those of you who are unfamiliar-D&B's is like an adult Chuck E Cheese. It is a restaurant (with really good food) and then there is a game room. For many of the games you earn tickets to use toward prizes. Briana was in heaven, since both uncles, her aunt, and her mommy and daddy all pooled the tickets for prizes for her. Talk about spoiled :) She wasn't even able to choose enough prizes to use all her tickets. We saved some for next time.

Overall, our holiday with the Edison family (Brian's brothers and Cari) was truly special. I am so grateful that they were able to travel to see us and meet Alex. As I age, I am much more appreciative of family times together. With Brian and I living so far away from everyone, it makes us appreciate even more how important people are in our lives and especially the lives of our children.