Thanksgiving 2011

We had a really great Thanksgiving this year!

We had a busy day planned, but knew that it was going to be filled with family and lots of fun.

 

 

We slept in a little bit on Thanksgiving...I think until about 9am (well, Will didn't sleep in...being the kind husband that he is, he went out at 6:30am and got us a paper so we could look at the sale ads!). But I was so thankful for the extra sleep and I think the kids were too.

 

 

Me and Taylor got in the shower and got cleaned up and then got dressed. I looked at all the sale papers and tried to decide if there were things we were going to try to get. I didn't really have any cooking to do because all I was bringing to Nonnie and Poppy's house was veggies (from a can of course!) and macaroni and cheese. We left our house around 10:30 and got to Nonnie and Poppy's house at about 11. The kids got set up with some coloring pages and crayons thanks to Nonnie and I just stood around the kitchen and smelled all the goodness. Will carved the turkey for us like he has done for a few years now and we enjoyed picking the crispy pieces off of there! We got all the other veggies warmed up and the macaroni cooked and the potatoes done. Tim and Amber got there a few minutes before 12 and we got the bread in the oven while they cut up the ham they brought. We all got sat down at the table and ready to eat about 12:15 or so. My Uncle Jim joined us for lunch this year. Sadly, it was Kimberly and Benji's turn to eat with his family so we didn't get to eat lunch with them. But we understood!

 

 

After a wonderful lunch and a little pumpkin pie it was time to clean up. The kids did not eat well at all this year. I know they liked everything that we put on their plates, but I guess they were just too excited to eat. Me, Nonnie, and Amber got all the food put up and the dishes put in the dishwasher and then we sat down for just a little bit to look at the sale papers again and watch some football. I have no idea who was playing, but I know there was football on.

 

 

We had to leave Nonnie and Poppy's about 2:15 so that we could get up to Mammaw and Pappaw's house to see them and the rest of Will's family. Will's Pappaw has not been feeling well lately and has been becoming very weak. So the family decided they wanted to try to get a big family picture this Thanksgiving with him in it. Will has a very large extended family with lots and lots of little ones running around. It was a lot of fun being there with everyone and luckily the weather was pretty nice so we were all able to be outside and the kids were able to run around. Will's brother and sister-in-law got to come in for the holiday this year and we were very excited to see them and our new little nephew Tristan.

 

 

It was finally time for the picture...and it is not easy to get 41 people in a picture and all looking at the camera at the same time! We were missing a few people from the picture or else there would have been about 7 or 8 more people there. I can't wait to see a copy of the picture to see how it turned out.

 

 

We hung out at Mammaw and Pappaw's house a little bit longer and then we headed over to Grandma's house to spend time with Will's family. It was very busy over there after everyone got there! There are 8 kids age 6 and under in his family and they were all running wild! Grandma had nachos and cheese for everyone to eat along with some macaroni and cheese, sausage balls, pigs in a blanket, and left over turkey. The kids (and adults!) really enjoyed the nachos and cheese. We stayed over there until about 9pm and then decided we better get home so that Will could make it to Walmart for the 10pm sale and so that I  could get some sleep before getting up to go shopping early Friday morning.

 

 

It took the kids FOREVER to go to sleep. I had recorded Horton Hears a Hoo on the DVR so I let them sit out in the living room and watch that while they tried to go to sleep. I think Taylor finally gave up around 11:45 and Liam got to sleep about 12. I dozed off much sooner than that, but Liam kept waking me up to fast forward through all the commercials! I got them put in their beds and finally got to bed. I heard Will come back home a little after 1am and then my alarm was going off at 3:30. So early.

 

 

I had a busy day of shopping with Nonnie and Kimberly and our friend Skylar. We got some good deals and didn't even have to fight anyone! We kinda hope that the stores won't choose to open on Thanksgiving next year...we weren't fans of that. I like it when the stores open at like 4 or 5 in the morning. But I think that all the stores should stay closed on Thanksgiving to let their employees enjoy time with their families and not have to worry about coming into work that night. Just our little ol opinions though...pretty sure they aren't going to listen to us!

 

 

After a full day of shopping, I got back home at about 4pm. I tried to take a little nap on the couch for a few hours (I think I dozed off a little, but I was still so tired!) and then we were off to Grandma's house again to see Will's brother and sister-in-law again before they went home. We knew that they probably wouldn't get to come in for Christmas since they were in now, so we were trying to spend all the time with them that we could. Grandma cooked some ham and potatoes with cheese, mashed potatoes, macaroni, peas, green beans, mexican cornbread, and sausage balls for us all to eat and munch on. We had a great evening just talking and letting the kids play. We stayed way too late, 10:30pm, but we knew that we wouldn't get to see Brant and Jessica for a while so it was nice to spend time with them.

 

 

Saturday we all slept so so late! Liam came and got in our bed at about 8am, but I just laid him down beside me and he must have went back to sleep. Taylor came in our room at 9am saying it was wake up time, but I put her in the bed with us and just laid there and closed my eyes and she went back to sleep too! So we didn't actually all wake up until 10:30! It was so nice to just sleep!

 

 

But we all had to get up and get dressed to go to Nonnie and Poppy's house to watch the UT/KY game and have our picture made for Nonnie's Christmas card. We ate pizza and wings and lots of chips and dip at their house and watched a horrible game of football. Then we all got our picture made, which is always an adventure when you have a Liam you are trying to get to cooperate and smile. Then Will left to deliver some wood to someone and the kids played with Abigail and Mason and I just sat and enjoyed talking and doing nothing. After Will got back we played a game of Phase 10 before going home. Will was excited to hook up the new blu ray player he bought at Walmart in our room so we could finally watch a movie in peace!

 

 

It was a fun and busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend. God has blessed our family more than we deserve. We are all healthy, Nonnie has successfully beat her breast cancer after surgery and lots of radiation, we are all happy (most of the time!), we have a warm house, lots of good food, a great church family, great friends, and a God who forgives us when we do wrong. He has truly blessed us abundantly more than we deserve!