Thanksgiving with the Bader-Stain's

Billy and I hosted our third Bader-Stain Thanksgiving on Friday. Our motto this year was "go simple or go home". haha....not really, but we did try to plan things where we (the ladies!) would spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying our time with everyone. With our business moving out of our backyard I now have a 30x30 shop at my disposal. We thought it would be easier to host our dinner out there rather than move the living room furniture outside in order to set up tables and chairs (as we have done every other year!!). The fair weather and a huge forced air heater kept the shop comfortable.

Bicycles and jog strollers hanging from the wall were no distraction for Raegen...nothing came between him and his turkey!

Speaking of turkey...another change we made this year was less food...with the hopes we would have less leftovers. It was a complete success which made cleanup that much easier. The only complaint I heard was from the guys. They wanted a traditional turkey and instead we had turkey tenderloin mignon. Trust me, it was as good as it sounds...and the guys would agree! You know how it is, they've got to complain about something! Not having to cook a turkey took most of the stress out of the day. It was nice to relax the day before and April and I even went shopping that morning! I haven't been shopping on Black Friday the last few years all because I was home rotating and basting a turkey. YAY!! Freedom at last!

Aside from the excitement of not having to deal with turkey bones and yucky juices, I was even more excited about our family picture. I've never been in a professional Bader-Stain picture, and I think the last one they had done was in high school so it was more than time for a new one. The photo session was quick and easy and I think everyone is anxious to see the results. They should be ready in less than a week and I am hoping I can get some low resolution pics to share on my blog. Here are some we snapped with my camera after our session was over.

Danny & Bridget arrived just in time for the photo session. Afterwards they ate lunch and we let the baby boys interact.

We headed back to the house afterwards because there was a football game on. It was a little comical that we all stayed in our photo attire (black shirts and dark pants).

Raegen spotted Alyssa's stroller and begged Aunt Katie to put him in! She got a kick out of pushing him around the kitchen.

Uncle Robby with our newest addition, Ashlyn.

Blonde beauties...Aunt Bridget and Annelise