Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 was really great!  We travelled up to Baltimore to spend it with my family.  Here’s the rundown by day. 

Wednesday: 
We managed to get on the road by 3 o’clock.  Kev had a half day, so we were able to get on the road before traffic got real bad.

Thursday:
My sister and I went to CVS on Thanksgiving morning to stock up on all sorts of goodies.  She has become a couponer as well so it’s been fun to shop together for deals when we are together.  Everything I purchased was free after Extracare Bucks printed and some were money makers after ECB’s.  Fun stuff!  I spent $14 out of pocket and I think I calculated $25 in ECB’s to spend on future purchases at CVS. 

Later in the afternoon, we headed up to my aunt’s house and had our Thanksgiving meal with the whole gang (which included my immediate family, my aunt, uncle, cousins, and my uncle’s parents (he’s my uncle by marriage and we love seeing his family at some of the family events).  I had it pretty easy and was only in charge of 2 pies and some rolls.

We got to see my cousin for the first time since his enlistment in the Navy.  He is loving it so far and it was so nice to see how happy he is!  The food was delicious, but it was even more fun to just spend time together as a family.

My cousin back from the Navy posing with my aunt and Savannah.

We did have a chance to get a family picture on my aunt’s staircase, but it’s becoming harder and harder to get a picture where Savannah is actually looking at the camera!

Friday:
We spent most of Friday just relaxing at my parents house.  It is getting more and more fun to see Savannah and my nephew Matthew (who is a beast by the way – we’re pretty sure he weighs more than Savannah and he is 3 months younger) interact with one another.  Being so close in age, I can only imagine the trouble they will get into as they grow up together.  My niece MacKenzie is right in there with the 2 babies as well! 

Friday night, we headed up to the local outdoor mall for the Christmas tree lighting.  We dragged Savannah out in the colder weather and she ended up sleeping on my shoulder for the first part of the event!  She even slept through Santa’s arrival on a loud firetruck! 

Saturday:
We didn’t do much during the day on Saturday either, which was fine by me.  It was so nice to not feel rushed getting ready and to have extra helping hands with Savannah!  That in and of itself makes weekends with my family so great!  Kevin and my brother-in-law did go fishing in the local reservoir and Kevin managed to catch a bass just before they came in!  It’s catch and release though, so we couldn’t enjoy eating it!

On Saturday night, we went back up to my aunts house to enjoy some more time with my cousin who was home from the Navy.  They threw a small party for him, so we enjoyed some more yummy food (my uncle is a wonderful cook) and good times together as a family!  My sister and I decided to let our hubbies stay home with the kiddos since the party was later at night.  Before we left, we got some cute pictures with the kids in their new Christmas pajamas!  I won’t share all of them in case some become Christmas card photos! 

I hope that you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving.  It is probably my favorite holiday of the entire year.  I love the simplicity of it and how it puts me in a more thankful mindset.  God has certainly blessed me beyond what I deserve, and I am so thankful.  How did you spend your Thanksgiving this year?