Thanksgiving 2018

We loved hosting Thanksgiving this year and having Justin's parents and his sister and her family over. I've decided I like smaller crowds for holidays! :)  

We filled our tummies perfectly and loved spending time together. Levi had an assignment to interview one of his grandparents. He chose Grandma Morris. It was so fun to watch them interact and to hear stories that I have never known. 

As everyone left, and we all cuddled on the couch to kick of the Christmas season with Polar Express, it felt like the perfect Thanksgiving. Good food, connecting with family, and feeling so so so thankful for this life.

hosting thanksgiving

This year, Justin's mom asked if we could host the big dinner. I was so okay with it. We are the biggest home bodies and I really love decorating holiday tables (so happy my mom past that love on to me) Plus, it motivates me to deep clean the entire house. :) 

The kids had Wednesday off and were completely bored. I guess they figured I would have fun things planned for all their days off. So wrong. I was trying to get a lot accomplished Wednesday so that Thanksgiving day would be beautiful and calm. I felt both guilty and annoyed (mostly annoyed) that they were acting so miserable. In the end they realized that what I did made me much happier on Thanksgiving day and boredom is a good thing.

The thing we were really looking forward to was watching our town's high school being represented at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade! I loved watching a couple of my friends posting on social media leading up to the big day. Makes me want to go to New York even more! 

When the parade was over Justin took all the kids out on a run while I put primer on our downstairs fireplace and added some last minute touches to the table. By the time they got home, we all got cleaned up and were ready for our grandparents and cousins to come over! We had a very small crowd, but we enjoyed every minute laughing and eating one of the most anticipated meals of the year. 

After the meal we chatted some more, kicked off the season with Polar Express for the kids, and Justin's mom brought Hidden Figures for us adults. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it yet. So good!!

On this day I felt extra gratitude for Justin's family, cozy homes, food that tastes amazing, and a warm bed to climb into at the end of the day.

over the river and through the woods

This year we headed south to Grandma and Grandpa Morris' house for a quiet, happy Thanksgiving day. The day before the boys helped make different kinds of pie that they each wanted. I made yams in the morning. And before heading out the door, they each helped prepare the green beans. Once we got there the kids laid around reading books, colored Thanksgiving pictures, and played their tablets while we waited for Grandpa Morris to come home from work and for daddy to finish carving the turkey. 

The food was so good and we were completely stuffed, of course. So we headed across the street to the park to get a little exercise and justify eating more food. Grandpa, daddy, and Corbin played frisbee. Taylor, Levi, and Rudger played an incredibly adventurous game where they were fighting bad guys. :) And grandma, Adeline, and I just walked around soaking in the scenery. Then we rushed home to get some pie and all was right in the world.

 :: this is Justin's favorite shirt ::

 :: these two ♥♥♥ ::

 :: each person and their pie >>> banana cream, pumpkin, cherry bites, chocolate cream, lemon sour cream ::

long thanksgiving weekend

These two were oh so excited for the Thanksgiving break. They even stayed in their jammies all day in anticipation for the lazy, cozy, super long weekend ahead. We had five days of playing, staying up late, sleeping in, and not too much of a schedule!

Tuesday afternoon Levi came home with this note for his mom and dad. I was so happy and then I read the fine print half way down. I laughed so hard and couldn't wait to show Justin. (in case you can't read it...I like dad better) :)

:: checking pie recipes :: 

 :: pumpkin pie ::

 :: practicing his Christmas recital number ::

 :: coziest of weekends ::

 :: it snowed Wednesday evening and the boys were so excited that we were going to have a white Thanksgiving (although it pretty much melted by the time we got to Grandma's house the next day) ::

 :: polar express Thanksgiving night ::

 :: pie for breakfast ::

:: hike in the mountains was pretty magical :: 

 :: adeline had a tight grip of daddy's ear ::

 :: ♥♥♥ ::

 :: Corbin wanted his haircut like this, but when I showed him this picture he said no way. yes!! so we shaved it off ::

 :: after Thanksmas we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's to check out the new t.v. system. very impressive and the boys loved it! ::

:: this is where my heart is ::

It was an incredibly happy weekend with so much food, lots of family time, and tons of cherished memories. 

Coming soon: Thanksgiving day and Thanksmas!