Monday, December 1, 2014

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving Eve
I love the "Eve" of a holiday, all the excitement, activities, chaos mixed with relaxation and family time.  I was SO happy to get "home" on Wednesday and home now means my parents house.  Nash came out right away to bring me into the house when I arrived 

I was thrilled to be the first of the three kids to walk through the door at home and have some time by myself.
We had a big Thanksgiving Eve dinner 
 Nash was so happy to have us all home again
Since Derek and I had to leave Friday, we turned Wednesday into part of the holiday and did some baking and pre Thanksgiving cooking, big elements of the Christmas decorating (since they would be doing some while we were away) and r e l a x i n g!  It was really great to be home for a couple days 

Christmas Cheer Making...
Thanksgiving Preparations

We called in the professional for help folding the napkins

I spent most of my time by the fire place searching the sales :)  We also put up the big Christmas tree, made Christmas Cheer and Mom and I worked on our tablescape for the next day

First ornament on the tree this year!
 Lots of time spent cozying up by the fireplace
Key Word: R e l a x i n g. This time at home beats anytime spent out at a crowded bar which can be done any night of the year.  Holidays only come a couple days a year!

Thanksgiving Day
This year was more about enjoying the day, enjoying the company we were with and taking a break from social media, cell phones, etc.


Thanksgiving morning kicked off with the brothers going to get the pies and a long walk for some of us then a highlight of the day.. the parades!  By noon we were scattered around doing what made us all happy: the afternoon football game, the dog show, online shopping, preparing our displays on our serving tables and cooking.

Football and Dog Show Watching
 Cooking and online shopping
3:00pm was appetizers, 4:00pm was dinner, 4:30pm was kickoff (we were a little late to the game), we were glued to the TV (even thought the Eagles were killing it) until dessert after it was over.  Derek handled the loss well and Grandma knitted to keep herself from getting nervous.  Grandma's quote of "Does Derek just not understand they can't hear him" about Derek yelling at the TV was a highlight.
 Nash guarded the appys
 
 a full and happy kitchen
 First Thanksgiving as husband and wife
My girls even made an appearance 
I cheered for both teams of course (I promised Derek in the past I'd always cheer for the Cowboys until they played the Eagles) and some of us got scolded for high-fiving about the win while Derek was out of the room - then someone (Mom) threw Steve under the bus for starting the high fives and she showed her loyalty to the south and her original team andstuck with Derek.
 Still keeping guard
 Some how I ended up alone at the table at the end of dinner… still eating
It was early to bed for everyone
Thanksgiving Day Details



Of course I forgot photos of the other two tables with the meats and everyone's favorite potatoes and gravy

Thanksgiving Weekend in Sparta 
Friday afternoon we took off for Sparta to spend the holiday weekend with Derek's family.  We had a great visit with everyone.

We passed through Allentown on the way and decided to stop there for lunch (possibly a new tradition) and turned around at the stadium - I haven't been back to the Lehigh Valley in a couple years, it was fun to be back
 We couldn't get over the weather in Sparta! Freezing and so much snow!
Excited to see our nieces and nephews

 We made a visit to our very favorite Warehouse Grill, Upstream Grille
 And then spent the night catching up with friends
 Saturday morning PJ party with the kiddos and a viewing of Frozen.. by 10am Uncle Derek and Aunt Christina were ready for nap time
 
 We watched Penn State blow it in the last game of the season
 This picture sums up the day - super relaxing and cozy!  Gracie girl enjoying the fire
 Best game ever - brushing hair
 Love being an aunt/uncle to these guys

Xo CHS

No comments:

Post a Comment