Thanksgiving
Well we made it through another Thanksgiving in our home, but not without the help of lots of family. Every year that we have it at our house I gripe a little, or maybe a lot, but secretly I think I like it. I love that everyone brings their holiday cheer to our house in addition to their yummy food. The Hathaways stayed with us a couple days with their six kids and so our kids were in heaven with all these playmates to choose from.
Each year there is some variance to our Thanksgiving, but there are also some staple dishes and activities that we do. A typical Thanksgiving in our home goes as follows:

Wednesday we prep with pies, appetizers, or whatever can sit and fit in the fridge overnight
Thursday we wake up early and get to cooking some more while listening to a little Christmas music. Our menu is usually, turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, pretzel jello-salad, my mom's awesome rolls, stuffing, and spinach dip (a must in Tom's book). This year family members brought all the pies so that stress which tends to be huge for me was taken away.
After dinner we all sit and digest the food for a while and then we each draw pictures of what we're thankful for and try to guess who drew what. Usually not long after an intense game of mafia ensues.
This year it was so great to see everyone, friends and family and it was a reminder of what is most important.

Kristin and Owen made these cute suckers for everyone.
We finally followed through with getting a ping pong table and were so glad we did.
Jess and E played and played and played some more. I think they are showing me there best karate moves here.
Rain was in the forecast, but we got nothin but sunshine the day after Thanksgiving so we took advantage of it and went to the park and carousel to see Santa and take a ride.


What's a family get together without a sumo match???
Our least favorite part, saying goodbye to the Hathaways...luckily we will see them again soon. Not long after their departure we put the fall decor away and got out all the Christmas stuff. On to the next exciting holiday and from now until Christmas Jessie and Tegan will be asking me if Santa will be coming tomorrow.