I just love Thanksgiving! It never fails to be a great time with family, friends, traditions, and a spirit of thankfulness for all that God has blessed us with. This year was no exception. I was able to take off the entire week and head to Texas! Actually getting to Texas proved to be a little stressful since my scheduled flight got cancelled because a little winter storm was hitting DFW at the exact same time that I was supposed to be landing. Thankfully, after 2 hours of waiting on the phone for the next available American Airlines agent, he was able to get me the last seat on the only other flight that made it out to DFW that day. Whew!
We kicked off the very first night with a delicious Indonesian meal because that's where The Amazing Race was taking place that night. My mom is so good about embracing the quirky little things I enjoy so much :) We also started off the week with some good brother-sister bonding as we decorated a reindeer for Zach's office Christmas decorations.
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| Comet Nothing like some good crafting to bond siblings :) |
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| Even more perfect, they were playing the Denver Nuggets! |
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| Yep, that Mark right there in front of us |
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| I wonder what Mr. Cuban has to say to the ref |
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| Go Mavs! |
The rest of the week was a lot of fun with time for crafting and cooking and playing games. Thanksgiving day came quickly of course because time flies when you're having fun. I began my Thanksgiving day the same way I have for many years now - with the Turkey Trot!!! It's my favorite way to get the day going with thousands of other excited turkey trotters. They are continually improving their starting process, and this year was definitely the best. It gave me the chance to enjoy the company of Candiss and Taylor while we waited for the starting gun. I love our Turkey Trot tradition!
(Please forgive the DO NOT COPY watermarks. They're the only pictures I have and I'm not about to pay the exorbitant amount they want for these pictures.)
As soon as I could, I got myself over to Grandma and Papa's for a remarkable Thanksgiving feast. My grandma really knows how to do it right! I'm so thankful when I get to spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins because it doesn't happen all that often.
While many other people are going crazy over Black Friday, we are preparing for our annual Eastup Bonfire. The men make sure we have wood ready for the fire while my mom and I make sure we have all the hot dog and s'more supplies. This year I decided to try out pumpkin spice marshmallows for our s'mores. I also had traditional vanilla s'mores with traditional Hershey's chocolate and grahams, but I also like to have a creative, adventurous option as well.
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| My brother is quite the fire builder. He does a great job of keeping a constantly good flame going. |
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| That's one hot fire! |
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| Perfect for marshmallow roasting! |
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| Candiss and Taylor got to come this year!!! It is an absolute delight when they get to come! |
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| I only wish that we lived closer together. |
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| Cozy by the fire |
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| Eastup Bonfire 2013 |
The fun still was not over. On Saturday, we had my dad's side over for Thanksgiving. It was another great day of quality time with family. Cousins were playing football in the yard. Uncles were watching football in the living room. A couple of competitive games of Farkle were played at the dining table. We were all filled with award-winning chili and baked potatoes. What more could you ask for? Oh, maybe a slice of this...
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| Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake Happy Chocolate Mousse Day!!! |
This was our all-day project, but totally worth it. It exceeded all of my expectations, and my mouth is watering even now as I look at it. Yumm!
As always, I walk away from the week very aware that I have many, many, many things to be thankful for in my life.
