Isn't it amazing how much we anticipate the holidays and before we know it, one of them has come and gone? Such is the case with Thanksgiving. This year was a little different for us as for the past 6 years or so I've always gone to Alabama to be with Brent's family on Thanksgiving. This year Brent's parents are on a fabulous trip to China so we didn't go to Alabama this year. Also Brent worked at Opryland over the holiday so we did things I little differently this year and I went to Chattanooga to enjoy an amazing Thanksgiving at my parents. We had a great time - my grandparents, aunt, cousin, sister, brother in law, niece, nephews, and my sisters in-laws were all there.
The amount of food was ridiculous! It was SOO yummy though.
My wonderful family! (minus me, the photographer of course)
After we finished eating and my grandparents left, my sister, mom, sister's mother-in-law, niece and I got a little head start on shopping and headed out to Big Lots and Kmart, two of just a few stores that are actually open on Thanksgiving day. Surprisingly, there were quite a few other early shoppers out that day as well.
To get us ready to shop, Tre' Brittany and Bronson worked feverishly on their wish lists for their grandmother. Here's Tre' searching all of the sales ads for everything he ever wanted!
Brittany sat in my lap as we looked through the ads to find all of her wish list items.
I was surprised that this picture showed up of "Rosie." You see, she is one of Santa's elves that was sent to watch Brittany. Tre' has one too. They came to life after being given some crackers and water and sprinkled with "snow." They do some very mischievous things, however, when left alone so Brittany and Tre' have to keep them with them at all times.
Friday morning, Mom and I started the day off right: we were at Wal-mart by 6:15 a.m. It was fantastic! Nothing says Thanksgiving like early bird shopping on black Friday. Besides the yummy food, early bird shopping is my favorite part about the holiday. In the past few years, it has become a major tradition for me and I actually get all of our Christmas shopping done on that one day and such was the case again this year. I am completely finished with all my shopping! Now it's time to wrap.
Saturday I headed to Brittany's house for our 5th annual tradition of making cookies for the holidays. This year we decided to streamline the madness and only baked three different items. In the past, we have started as early as 10am and not finished until 2:00 a.m. the next morning. Yes, I said the next morning. Ridiculous, yes, but we always have a blast. We have never taken any pictures, but this year we had an extra helper: Brittany's niece Peyton Carley. She was a great help dipping the peanut butter balls and putting Hershey kisses on our pretzels. We had a great day and finished by 4:00 p.m. - a record time for us.
Here's Ada, Brittany and Peyton Carley working hard on the peanut butter balls.
These were a new addition to our baking and they are scrumptious. Unfortunately, due to a little "hasty" moving on my part, I messed up Brittany and Peyton's masterpiece. Thankfully I wasn't kicked out of the kitchen - even after I was laughing hysterically at the whole ordeal. (sorry, again, Brittany...) 
Sunday morning wrapped up my weekend very nicely as Jimmy and Brittany invited me to be a part as they dedicated Ada during their church service Sunday morning. Along with all of Brittany's family and Jimmy's dad and his wife, we supported the Moncriefs as they promised to raise Ada learning to love the Lord. It was a very special event to partake in and I was so thrilled to be able to participate.
I drove back to Nashville on Sunday after we had lunch with the whole Moncrief/Campbell family at Taco Mac. I had heard the roads would be treacherous but actually I had no problems. On the other hand, my sister and her BFF were coming back from seeing my grandparents in NC and a trip that should have taken 7 hours or less took them over 12 hours! Needless to say, I was very thankful I wasn't on the road that long.
I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day. I am definitely very Thankful for a husband that works hard to provide for our family. I am also thankful for my own family and having a warm house and more than enough food to get to eat!
Hopefully everyone is recuperating from over eating and over shopping!
3 comments:
I just realized my sister and her family may have seen Brent while he worked over Thanksgiving. They stayed at Opryland while visiting my brother-in-law's family. Too bad they don't know each other!
Jamie
Glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I love the cake you made!
So glad you got to come down and so glad we got to see you so much. Love our tradition!
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