Thanksgiving 2011

This year we spent Thanksgiving Day in Alabama with David's mom's side of the family.  We drove down  that morning, ate a gigantic and delicious feast for lunch, and celebrated a few family members' birthdays (complete with more food in the form of desserts).  After the table had been cleared, David's cousin called Audrey into the living room and went through a sweet presentation asking AJ to be her flower girl for her wedding next June.  She had bought a coloring book with pictures of brides, written a poem that she'd crafted onto paper, and let Audrey decorate a page with stickers of a bride, groom, and flower girl as she explained how it all worked.  She even bought silk flower petals for her to practice throwing.  If I recall correctly, Audrey's response to her asking was, "Yeah!  Sure!" as she slung petals around the room.  It was so precious and I'm thankful that Audrey will get to play a role in that special day.  It could go hilariously off-plan and she could run away in terror when the moment comes for her to walk, but regardless, it'll make for a great story.

After we laid Audrey down for a nap, the womenfolk gathered around the kitchen table and looked through Black Friday sales ads.  While we were chatting, I shopped online and got a ton of cute clothes for Baby Boy at ridiculously low prices from my favorites, Gymboree and Crazy 8.  The menfolk watched TV, slept, ate some more, and then a few went out to shoot guns.  It was a fun all-American Thanksgiving afternoon for sure.  

When AJ woke up, we played around a little longer and then packed up and drove home.  David and I had already assembled the tree and he'd put lights on it, so it was ready and waiting for us to decorate on Thanksgiving night, as is our tradition.  We ate leftovers and then got to work.  Audrey was really into it this year, and especially enjoyed her first mug of hot chocolate while she worked.  We lit the angel on cue with the Macy's Tree on TV and then scooted her off to bed while we pulled out the leftover desserts.  Pumpkin pie, ice cream, and hot apple cider...YUM.  

On Friday, we woke up and drove to David's aunt and uncle's house to celebrate with his Dad's side.  More delicious food, more birthday celebrations for that side.  The best parts for Audrey were seeing their two dogs (one of which is a gigantic Pyrenees) and the huge Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls his aunt had (she's a Disney fanatic.)  We visited and caught up while watching clips of the Sing-Off.  Having been out the whole day before, we didn't stay as long and hit the road in time for AJ to catch a short nap on the ride home. 

Saturday and Sunday were filled with decorating outside, watching football, shopping (we knocked out over half my remaining list, about 20 names, in two days!), wrapping, and church.  It was busy, but it was fun and such nice family time.

Another wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, food, and fun.  We have so much to be grateful for, especially knowing that next year we'll have another Little Turkey to celebrate with!  Check back for pictures soon.