Happy Thanksgiving!

Shannon's picture of her side of the table. Isn't Nathan's turkey beautiful? That rainbow thing at the top is my my Jello mold. It was tasty too.

Ok... So I am a bit late. But in my defense I have been very busy.

We headed to Clinton Wednesday evening, arriving around 9pm. Mom and Dad were home, and very excited to see Weston. I went to work making my Jello Mold. Shannon and Dad headed out to Wal-mart for some last minute buys. 

Linda and David arrived at our house around 9am Thursday. We headed to Nathan's house in Morrison, Illinois, around 11am. Once there, we played and hugged the little girls and took a tour of their new home. I swear it's twice the size of my $830 apartment for the bargain price of $500 a month. So annoying. And then having to explain to my family why we couldn't have something similar in Des Moines. "Um, yeah, we could, but in Des Moines it would be $1300 a month plus utilities." They don't get that. Then again, none of them understood a $900 mortgage payment either. They think $700 is too much. I wish. Man... if our mortgage payment had been $700 or less... we'd still have a house, and the money to enjoy it. Possibly the money to have another baby. 

Ok... ignore my ramblings, back to Thanksgiving. Nathan made a deliciously 36-hr brined turkey. It literally fell off the bone and onto my plate. I wish i had remembered my camera and had taken pictures; Nathan did that good of a job. He also made a delicious gravy (always a competition in our house) and mashed potatoes. We had the usuals: green bean casserole, California Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, my huge relish trays (1 whole tray of pickles and olives), my Jello Mold,  rolls, and I am sure that there was more. There was dressing (stuffing?) but it didn't make it to the table, not getting done for hours. (Nathan was not happy with Mom's recipe/suggestions.)

Overall Thanksgiving Day was delicious and a lot of fun. I got to play with my wonderful nieces, Zoey and Paisley. Gave all 3 kids baths. Zoey took one look at Weston and was like, "What's that?" OMG... Shannon and I just fell on the floor laughing so hard. 

Shannon and I did the whole shopping thing. Wal-mart at midnight, slept in the car in the Target parking lot from just after 2am to 3:50am. Then we hit Target at 4 (very disappointing) and she and Dad went to Wal-Mart to hit the electronics sale at 5am (Shannon picked up a Wireless Printer for $44.) We crashed into bed at 6 am. Friday was a haze. We ended up going for a ride with Mom and Linda in the afternoon, unshowered! Had a reheat of Turkey-Day for dinner and then Linda and Dave headed back to Cedar Rapids. 

We cam home yesterday afternoon. Stopped in Williamsburg for some sale shopping for Christmas. I spent very little, but did find an amazing deal for Mom's Christmas gift. 

I guess the point of this post is to detail that I had a great Thanksgiving. This year we have a lot to be thankful for. Mom is still with us and fighting Strong. She has become such an inspiration in strength these past 9 months. My wonderful baby boy in growing up to be such a little boy! And it's a huge difference. I miss the baby he was, but am so obsessed with the little person that he is. I am Thankful to have such an amazing family. We stand by each other and do everything we can to help each other out. I realize that this is not common. My family doesn't have a lot. We've had more at times, we've had less at times, but no matter what, we help with what we can, when we can. We don't buy brand-new-off-the-line cars when our family is struggling. It's not who we are. So... I am thankful to have such a loving, giving family. I am thankful that I can help them when I can, even if it's just laughs. 

I hope you all had a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving holiday. Get ready, Christmas is 23 days away, which means my 31st Birthday (egads!) is only 24 days away.