Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks!

We are thankful

We are grateful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving complete with a fun day with family and a wonderful feast shared.

We started out the day seeing HUGO at the movie theater. We are big fans of the book and were excited to see it come to the screen; we were not disappointed.

Then home to enjoy the day and prepare the meal.

And we were sure to save room for dessert!

Perfect pecan cheescake pie, silky smooth chocolate pie, See's English toffee, delectable deep dish apple pie, and a classic creamy pumpkin pie.

Don't you with this was scratch and sniff?

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and enjoy some time off, to reflect on for what we are grateful, and to of course eat.

We were lucky to have family over for the big day which was so much fun! The food was awesome, the company great, and the movie-while-the-turkey-is-in-the-oven was fantastic!

Baby Taylor is getting so big!

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a full and complete FEAST!!!

And nothing says Thanksgiving like a FULL TUMMY!!!

Madison and Brooke cracked me up as they took advantage of their seating arragnement to the fullest (pun intended): they just lay back from the piano bench on which they were seated and plopped on the couch, too full to move.

And at our home, Thanksgiving also means making a mess and having fun with a gingerbread house! It's become our tradition, especially to have cousin Angie lead the fun.

One cannot have Thanksgiving without scrumptious pies.

Pies that are traditional, pies that are unique.

Pies that are new to the menu.

Pies. that. hit. the. spot.

All homemade goodness: pumpkin, chocolate (complete with some little finger marks in it. Whose could they be??), pecan cheesecake, and Nantucket cranberry pie.

Yum!!

Instead of being crazy and spending an entire day (or all night long) waiting in lines, fighting through crowds, or trying to grab some sort of deal on Black Friday, we instead went ice skating as a family. John had to sit this one out since he is still recovering from his surgery, so he took pictures and entertained Christian, who didn't last long on the ice.

We had a great time testing out our moves and learning new ones on the ice for two hours.

I couldn't resist putting up this picture; I can't believe how perfect the timing was with John and the camera. So funny!

Here we all are, dying laughing . . . including Ashlyn.

We left with sore feet and many had very wet pants along with numb hands. But it was worth it and made for some good memories.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Post Thanksgiving leftovers:

Homemade turkey stock

Turkey soup

Homemade split pea & ham soup

Shepherd's Pie

Turkey Pot Pie

We've never eaten so well in a week before.

I'm still here . . .

November has proven to be another busy month and I haven't had time to load my pictures, let alone post. We've had a lot of fun the past couple of weeks having Grandma Waggoner and Aunt Dale stay with us. We are sad that they leave on Tuesday the 1st and have been trying to convince them to stay through Christmas. But there's something about medicines, doctor appointments, responsibilities, and . . . life for which they have to go back to Maryland.

Soccer ended. We have Saturdays back. Enough said. Is it wrong to be grateful that your daughter's team lost the last game therefore forfeiting the chance to go to playoffs?

John was gone for 9 days in November, but he managed to put in a sink for me when he returned. The bathroom project that is now on month 5 is little by little making progress. Although the counter is just plywood, at least there is running water for which I am very grateful. Oh, and this little remodel is only phase one. It doesn't even touch the toilet/shower/tub area. Honus!

Thanksgiving was a grand affair, despite some setbacks, that we hosted here and had a marvelous time. I spent all day Wednesday in the kitchen cooking and baking and cleaning so we could enjoy Thursday, which is precisely what we did until just after our traditional noon-time movie. I won't go into too many details that involve a still-frozen-solid turkey and a lost/stolen wallet (and a lot of cash) that put a damper on what was going to be a perfectly planned holiday. However, we still have much to be grateful for and celebrated accordingly. I'm sure someone else out there is feeling pretty grateful to have hit the mother lode on Thanksgiving afternoon, but I'm still hoping that guilt or better yet honesty will get the better of him and he'll turn in the wallet.

The Christmas decorations are up and we are feeling festive, although I'm still reeling that it's the end of November. Seriously, what happened to August? Someone's messing with the time/space continuum because it's getting faster! Every year I tell myself I'm going to be more prepared and every year it sneaks up on me faster and stealthier. This is my baby's last month in nursery! I will not have any more kids in the nursery which is strange since I have had at least a child in there consistently for 10 years. They keep growing. Stop it!