Thanksgiving 2011

We had such a fabulous thanksgivings this year, one of my favorite to date. It was so nice just to stay at home and cook our own turkey. Kirk got off of work at about noon the Monday beforehand and didn't go back until the following Monday at noon, I was beyond spoiled. We stuck around the house and did a couple projects (potty training Audrey, moving the playroom downstairs, moving the guest room into Audrey's old room, and moving the office into the loft!). We really love having the playroom downstairs, I wish I would have done it long ago.
Wednesday afternoon on a spur of the moment decision my sister Camille and her kids decided to come down for the holiday! We were ecstatic and had Dynelle cookies (no bakes) waiting for them when they arrived. They were such a delight to have in our home, her kids are all so sweet and kind and Camille is one of my very favorite people so they made our weekend magical. I was a little worried about Kirk being in a house with 7 women and only one boy but it turns out he has a knack with women. Guess that means he won't need a son after all, ha ha.
Thursday we started cooking (got our turkey started waaaay too late) and pretty much didn't stop. The kids played hard and then we sent Kirk to the park with them while Camille and I stayed and cooked. It was so fun to work with my sister in the kitchen. Cooking turned out to be a blast and thanks to her we had super delicious stuffing. Our menu was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls, celery with cheese, cranberry sauce (which it turns out camille actually likes), corn, and asparagus, with Razzleberry pie for dessert. Mmmm delicious, makes me hungry thinking about it! Everyone said what they were thankful for Kirsten said "applesauce," Allie said "Audrey," and Audrey said "Allie" it was so darling.

That night I made Camille go black Friday shopping with me. We only hit up Walmart and Target but I thought it was super fun. I used to go with my mom when I was a teenager and have loved it ever since...except the Walmart in Vernal, seriously never again!. We didn't get anything too big just towels, games, and movies. We got home at 2:00 in the morning and had hot chocolate with Kirk who had stayed up reading The Hunger Games.
So when the kids woke up at 5:30 it was WAY to early. We just relaxed Friday, filled our tummys with left over turkey and stuffing. Kirk and I took Jacob, Abby, Allie, and Kirsten out shopping. A couple weeks ago we saw a Christmas tree train that we fell in love with at Home Depot, but it was $45 so we decided to risk it and wait until black Friday. We totally scored the train for $25! I was sooo excited. It was so fun to be out shopping with Camille's kids. Abby and Allie held my hands walking in and out of the parking lot while Kirk carried Kirsten and Jacob walked with them. It was so fun having such well behaved darling children. We came home set up the tree and the train and watched Elf. We also spent a lot of time at the park and had as many tea parties as there were females in our house. Seriously good times. We were sad to see them leave on Saturday 2 days didn't seem enough, but we sure loved having them in our home. We LOVE the Cooper family.

We relaxed the rest of the weekend, dreading when Kirk would fly to New Jersey on Monday. But luckily we all survived. Anyway it was a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. We are so blessed in so many ways.