The Pruett Place: Thanksgiving

Yes, I know it is January and I am posting about Thanksgiving. I will have two more posts about Christmas and the past two months and then I will be caught up, so be patient with me. This past Thanksgiving is always going to have special meaning to the Pruett family. It was the last time that many of us saw Lindsey. We were all there from Wednesday-Sunday of Thanksgiving week. It was a special week filled with laughter, fun, and lots of outside time for the kids. Unfortunately, Kate was hit pretty hard with strep throat while we were there and she was not herself, which really made me sad. Kate absolutely loves playing with her cousins and she was just not herself. Kate is like most kids in that a lot of times she will not even act sick when she is sick. However, that was not the case this time. She was a totally different child, which showed us just how bad she felt. On Wednesday when we got there I noticed Kate did not have her usual appetite. She kept clearing her throat and it sounded like she had junk in her throat. She also had a little bit of a cough and was just acting pretty tired. I just thought she might have a cold. Then on Thanksgiving she started acting more and more sick as the day wore on. It was hurting so much to swallow that she kept wiping spit off of her mouth and her shirt was really wet. She hardly talked and was not being her usual smiley, giggly self. That evening I decided we had to take her in some place. It was breaking my heart! She started running a fever and just seemed miserable. I figured it either had to be hand, foot and mouth or strep throat. I was hoping for strep since she could get put on an antibiotic. However, everything was closed except for the ER, so we decided to take her in first thing Friday morning to one of those "Doc in a Box" places. So Zack took her to a doctor Friday morning and sure enough she had strep throat. I was a little surprised by this because Kate has been exposed to strep numerous times from the Tate cousins and never contacted it before. It was one of the sickest I have ever seen her. The doctor gave her a strong antibiotic and she got a little bit more energy but still would not talk. Friday night she had so much junk in her throat that she threw up in her bed when trying to sleep. It was not until Saturday after having antibiotics in her system for 24 hours that we truly started seeing some of the old Kate again. It just again made me sad she was sick the whole time we were there. Despite all of that I will still look back on Thanksgiving as special because it was our last time as a family with Lindsey. We had sweet family time of us all going around and talking about what we were thankful for. I know that this will always be dear to Zack's parents as Lindsey mentioned being thankful for them along with some other things. What a blessing.

Zack's parents added new patio flooring in their backyard and a little fire pit for s'mores. The kids all loved it!

Beautiful Emie having fun outside.

Kate enjoying some smores with Daddy.

Carly was exhausted from traveling and fell asleep on Uncle Jason even amongst the commotion around her.

Bree making a funny picture! She is so grown up now!

Look at that adorable face! I love Carly in pigtails.

The girls always enjoy playing on the piano at Mom Mom and Dad Dad's house. I look forward to them having piano lessons some day.

Sweet picture of Olivia in the tree.

Traditional picture of Dad Dad and the grandchildren by the tree in the backyard.

Here is Georgia. Look at those beautiful eyes!

Emie, Cole and Olivia

Carly and me

A glimpse at what we would see when we looked out into the backyard. The kids all doing different things and having a good time.

Dad Dad and Carly. Carly's shirt says "Turkey Day."

Claire and me.

I love Carly's smile.

Carly is so full of personality and spunk!

Dad Dad and Mom Mom carving the turkey.

At first glance this looks like a good family picture, but then look a little closer. Unfortunately, all of the pictures taken are with Claire's hand grabbing my shirt. However, it looks like her hand is down my shirt, which is not the case.

Lauren looking at all the wonderful snacks and desserts. We had a huge array of food the whole week.

Mom Mom and Lindsey.

Debbie(Mom Mom) always sets the table so nicely for holidays.

Kate and Aunt Lauren.

The kid table for the Thanksgiving feast. Kate was starting to fade fast. This was about all she could do to smile.

Carly and Aunt Lauren

Uncle Byron, Aunt Janis, Jennifer and Russ

Cole, Georgia, Olivia and Emie put on a show for all of us.

Carly having fun with Uncle Jason.

This is the picture that I added on an earlier post about Lindsey.

After Kate came back from the doctor, Mom Mom let her have a fudge popsicle. She still was not eating much.

Carly hanging out with Mom Mom and Dad Dad while they made the traditional angel biscuits. YUM!

Zack took Kate to the Dollar Store after going to the doctor. He thought she picked out a lip gloss, but she actually chose some blue mascara. We did not realize till later that she was putting blue mascara on her lips!

Mom Mom french braided all the girl's hair.

We always had tea available! Thanks Mom Mom.

This shows the way Kate looked most of the time we were there. So sad and sick. Heartbreaking!

Jennifer and Russ

The girls are obsessed about sitting on the stools in the kitchen when we are in Abilene. Carly climbing up to sit on a stool. Look at that determination!