My family! My parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and my cute little Grandma in the middle. We drove 5 hours to Seattle to have Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family. We drove 7 hours home the same night. Took us almost two hours to get through our own town because the huge outlet mall here was already open at midnight for Black Friday!

My brother thought he'd lay across all the kids instead of standing with us for our family picture! Ha! You can only see my Nick's legs in this picture. This is my parents, my brother and his wife, myself and Jeromy and our four children and my brother's son.

My husband Jeromy with our youngest son, Nick.

My brother, Yancey, kissing on Nick who was sitting on Aunt Joy's lap at the table!

My sweet Grandma (and me)

Thomas, Gabe and Anna at their table. Sparkling cider was a fun treat!

Me and my sister-in-law Joy. I just love her!

One of the 3 beautiful tables at my Aunt's house.

Me and my big brother.

It's not a holiday with my family until the ready wip comes out and everone get's a squirt! Here is Nick getting his turn!

It's already begun. The inevitable tug and pull between our families and holiday plans. Should we travel 7 hours in awful weather with 4 kids and a not-running-so-great minivan? There is Thanksgiving, my dad's 60's birthday, then Christmas. We are the ones that live the farthest, so they always expect us to travel. We're also the only ones with young children and not a lot of money. I don't know how we can do all of it financially and mentally. It's a lot of work to travel with so many children - especially if you have to go a long distance. Again I feel that no matter what decision we make; we'll be letting someone down and the pressure on us financially will be great. I don't know what to do this year.

Abbey had her appointment a few days ago with an allergist. We were told that it wasn't really a rash, or an allergic reaction to food - it was hives. They did a scratch test and find that she is very sensitive. The allergist said the hives are a symptom of an imbalance in her immune system. It could be as simple as a runny nose that sets her off. There is a small imbalance and her body reacts by showing hives; a way to get the histamine out of her system. The way to counter act it, is by giving her an antihistamine. Benadryl or Zyrtec.

He also said that when she gets a little older her body may have more symptoms (itching, etc) - but that because of her sensitivity - she will probably break out in hives the rest of her life for many different reasons. Maybe not every year, but. . . you get the idea. We are going to go ahead and do the blood test, to rule out anything else (food allergies, problems with her kidney's, liver, etc). Since the day I took those pictures and posted them, she has not had a breakout of hives. Go figure!