Once again, we were so excited to spend our Thanksgiving with our Tennessee family! My sister, Amy, and her husband, Todd are always so gracious to open their door to our whole family. We have had such a busy year and still plan on one more vacation to Disney World at Christmas, so Randy didn't think he could take off for Thanksgiving. With my mom in tow, and my brother Jordan and his wife Jen in their car... we headed off for our long road trip.
Luckily the weather was super nice, and we spent Monday playing in the leaves! Uncle Todd got out his riding lawnmower and trailer. The kids would fill the trailer...
and then jump in! They were on a mission to create a super big pile of leaves!
Uncle Todd would drive them over to their pile and they would dump the leaves. After about 4 trips, they had a pile that satisfied them.
And they took the plunge!
This was all that was left of Austin after he jumped in! They enjoyed throwing the leaves in the air and jumping in over and over.
They were such good sports to pose for one quick pic with the sun in their eyes! And then they decided they were ready for more rides! But this time they wanted to add one more person!
Nana got talked into riding with the
grand kids! They went around a couple of times and then my mom said she needed to get out... it was getting too bumpy.
Well, now we know why it was getting too bumpy! Todd is letting us all know what happened to his
trailer!
The poor tire gave out!!
So the kids took off for the hammock while Uncle Todd put the trailer away. But he wasn't done with them yet... it was time to put them to work!
Actually it was just another fun ride! Everyone got a turn at driving the lawnmower.
And in between their turns, I grabbed some more pics! What can I say, my camera is almost always by my side when I go to the Jensen's house. Too many great opportunities and memories I don't want to forget!
Austin's turn seemed like a long time. When they came back around, Todd said that they ran out of gas on the other side of the house, so he had Austin push him. HaHaHa!
Austin is such a good sport! He loves going to Tennessee. Of course he was missing his cousin, Kyson, who is on a mission in Sophia, Bulgaria. Austin and Kyson are buds- especially because they are both the only boys in their families. But he did great playing with all his girl cousins and sisters!
Addie looks like she is really concentrating! It reminded me of when we were go-carting. She really loved this because it made her feel so big!
Even before we left Auntie Mamie's house, she was already saying that she wanted to come back! And I heard it a couple of times on the road back home... so I think we won't be waiting too long to go back!
My mom was very impressed that Ashton wasn't scared of the lawnmower. Each kid got to go on two rides, and Ashton would walk straight over and jump on when it was her turn.
Ashton had a sweet connection with Uncle Todd. One time she was crying and my mom put her arms out to hold her and then Todd put his arms out and she took a quick turn straight for Todd. She loved being around her Tennessee family and I loved it because I didn't have to hold her all the time! She was comfortable with everyone there!
After our first trip to see Buddy, I knew this would be a great place for pictures! So the next time we went back, I attempted a few.
I like Ashton looking back on this one...
and I like the way Addie is looking at Austin here. But there are a few too many shadows,
This is one of my favorites. Again, I like how Austin and Addie are holding hands and conversing and I like that Ashton decided to just take a seat and play with the rocks.
I spent a lot of time on this one because I like it so much, but if you notice my mom is right at the top of Addie's head! I tried so hard to take her out of the picture but I could never get it to work! Let me know if anyone has ideas!
And then I did individual pictures of the kids. Avery...
Austin...
Addison...
and last but not least- Ashton.
Last time we went to see Buddy, we didn't ride him. But this time, we went to ride! Kinley and Kaylee came with us to show us the ropes!
Uncle Todd started by letting Buddy run around in a circle fence area (I told you I'm not a country girl!) and then we walked him back to a pasture to ride. It was such a beautiful walk and such a beautiful day.
Kaylee and Ashton stopped to play with some rocks...
and we lingered by the creek. Yes, the same creek they had gotten into the last time we were there. This time I had planned on pictures, so the rule was no getting in the water!
Here is Kaylee lovin' on Buddy. It made me want to get my kids a horse... but I don't know where I would keep one!
My mom even got on the horse! Actually, I did too but I hadn't gotten ready for the day so I requested no pictures! :-) One good thing about being behind the camera!
My little cowboy... he looks so intense! Uncle Todd walked in front of Buddy and he would just follow him! Did I mention Buddy is a good horse!
And Addie didn't take much coaxing to get on and ride!
I think Ashton rather liked this view because she didn't really want to get on.
She was a pretty good sport about sitting there for a sec, and then she was done!
And sweet Avery! She did really good on Buddy. Todd was very impressed by her and let her go around the pasture by herself. However, her second time around was a little different. We weren't paying too close attention to her because she had done so good the first time. We were talking and next thing we knew she was on the ground! I guess she was slipping one way and over corrected herself and fell right off. Buddy was really good though, he did a little shuffle to get out of her way and then just started walking off to the far end of the field. I thought for sure she had broken her wrist but luckily she was fine! 
My sisters' family have a horse named Buddy. They rent some space on a farm not too far from their house, so we were able to visit Buddy quite a few times during our Thanksgiving break. We all piled into Todd's truck and headed there this day. I think we counted twelve of us! Addie was first to jump out with a carrot to feed him. She very possibly could be teasing him right here. I think she liked the fact that he was behind a gate here because...
Uncle Todd brought him out of the stable to get some good green grass. The kids were up taking a picture on the back of the truck and Buddy thought he was needed in the picture. Addie wasn't so sure about him being so close!
So she moved... and then we got a smile out of her! Buddy is such a great horse. It's amazing to me how interactive he is! I'm not around many horses, but when he hears Todd's truck he meets him at one end of the fence, then Todd will race him to the other end of the fence. He's like a big dog!
Remember when my mom was shocked at Ashton's fearless attitude on the lawnmower? Well, she was the same way with Buddy.
She walked right over to him to pet him. Of course the closer she got the more she realized just how big he was. I think he's head is as big as her whole body! Amy stayed close to make sure she was alright. After I took this picture Buddy raised his head up right at Ashton's face and she was so shocked, but she never screamed or anything.
Austin also loved Buddy. He wanted Buddy to eat grass from his hand. It's just surprising to me how fearless they are because we are never around horses, and I'm not like that! I'm very cautious around horses!
Buddy shared a stable with an old, old horse named Bridget. Poor Bridget, she is on her last leg. But it's good that Buddy has a friend with him.
Like I said, Addie likes the horses behind the fence. So she started taking carrots over to Bridget.
Ashton also feed Bridget a carrot. 
The kids disappeared for a while, and I guess they were playing down in the creek.
They had moss all over their legs... gross! But that's what you get in the country and they were having tons of fun! It looks like Addie is playing follow the leader with Kimball here.
