Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we celebrated to the fullest. This is going to be a long weekend recap, since our weekend technically started Thursday morning. I was off all week, and after Cara had tubes on Monday, she went to school for short days Tuesday/Wednesday and I ran Christmas errands, went grocery shopping, cooked for Thanksgiving, cleaned the house, etc.

Thursday:

We had Thanksgiving #1 with the Edisons today, so we woke up early to start cooking the turkey! We bummed around the house while it cooked and I put the finishing touches on the other food I made. Cara played, we all got cleaned up and went to Cari's house.

We ate a yummy lunch of turkey, corn casserole, stuffing, potatoes, rolls and pie. Cara inhaled her turkey and some rolls. She picked at everything else. We played with the kids for a while and then went home when it was getting close to naptime.

Cara and I packed up and headed for Dallas. Poor Chance had to work on Friday, so we decided to go separately. He got the privilege of doing some "Black Thursday" shopping at Walmart with Cayce--no fights at our Walmart, thankfully--and got a few more Christmas/birthday presents. Cara and I had dinner with Mom & Dad and played before putting her to bed. Then the 3 of us watched a movie and drank hot chocolate. Fun, relaxing evening!

Friday:
Chance's 30th birthday! We were so sad to not be with him and that he had to work. But I had a surprise cooking for him that evening. Cara and I played at M&D's all morning. She even slept in late for me--until almost 9 a.m.! I woke up with a start, panicking that she was still asleep, but all was well!

{Cutest little bum ever!}

Friday afternoon, Mom's oldest friend and her kids came to visit, and then I left to go meet MY newest friend. Little Meredith Carole Gore was born 3 weeks ago, and I've been DYING to meet her ever since! I got to have some sweet newborn snuggles and chat with Andrew and Liz. She looks so good, seems like she's adjusting really well, and has this precious little baby! I forgot how tiny babies get, and I got my fill of cuddles and cries. My heart was full after spending time with my dear friends.

Chance got to Waco late that night, but Cara had taken a very late nap, so she was still awake to greet him! He didn't think he'd get to see her on his birthday, and it wasn't for very long, but at least he did get to see her. We had some birthday cake and gave him his presents and then went to sleep early--it had been a long day!

Saturday:

We had Thanksgiving #2 this afternoon. After a "quick" jaunt to the Apple Store to get Chance a replacement phone, we came home to help cook and carve and spend time with my family. Chance got to carve the turkey that he and Dad deep fried, and we set the table for our delicious spread.

We ate turkey, dressing, nutty buddy yam bake (my FAVORITE sweet potato dish--Cara approved!), cranberry salad, mac 'n cheese, homemade rolls, green bean bundles, Jello salad, and cherry and pecan pies. Holy moly, it was all so good! Cara even got a special mini cupcake from Mimi that she thoroughly enjoyed.

After lunch, we took naps and watched Baylor Football, almost had heart attacks, and then celebrated. Cara played all through the house and got into ALL Harleigh's things. That girl loves this dog. She's always saying "Doh" and asking for Harleigh all the time. I see a special friendship in the coming years.

She also discovered that she LOVES to dance (shake her tush, swivel her arms back and forth and smile) when her toys play music. That was really cute to watch and cheer her on.

Sunday:

We didn't go to church, but we packed up, had lunch and played a little more. Cara was SO spoiled this weekend--being held by everyone, stealing bites off people's forks with just a cute look and an open mouth, staying up late, eating sweets. It's going to be a hard transition back to reality this week... :)

We drove the back roads back to Waco and avoided lots of I-35 traffic. Sweet Cara woke up a little early from her nap and screamed her head off for 30 minutes because she was mad and couldn't go back to sleep. It was hard on mama to not be able to do anything (Chance and I were in separate cars.), but she calmed down eventually and conked back out. Home brought laundry, HEB, unpacking and preparing for a full week.

This Thanksgiving, more than many others, reminded me how much we have to be thankful for. As trite a phrase as that is, it hit home in several ways this week. We have loving, generous, supportive families that we are able to spend time with on a regular basis. We have a healthy child who brings us SO MUCH joy on a daily basis, we have each other to love and live with. We are so thankful to God for what He has chosen to bestow upon us.

Now one of the greatest times of year is next--Christmas season!!!