A Peek into our Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was one for the record books...we had five Thanksgiving meals in a week's time.  Yes, you read that right: Five Thanksgivings.  And no, neither the hubs nor I come from separated families.  Both of our parents have been married for 30 and 38 years...this is just what you get when all, and I mean ALL of your extended family (except for us) lives within 15 miles of each other...My husband hates every minute of it, but I, on the other hand, love it!  After all, that is what this time of year is all about: giving thanks for what you have and family being one of the most important.

The festivities began the Sunday before Thanksgiving when we got together with two of our closest friends for our first annual "Friendsgiving."  And just because it was a gathering of friends, does not mean we skimped on the feast.  We had everything from a 17lb turkey, to mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, rolls, spaghetti corn, salad, cranberry sauce, and a butterfinger dessert.  It was out of control, but we had so much fun and left there feeling exactly like that turkey on the table: stuffed.

Wednesday was a whirlwind.  Madden's Montessori had a Parent's day, where we were invited to come and do crafts with him, eat lunch, and then have him show us all that he has been working on this semester.  After that, we headed east back to our hometown for our first family Thanksgiving.  We got together with the 50 some family members on my Mom's side, stuffed our faces, and then turned around and drove the hour and a half back to our house that night.

Thursday was my husband's dream holiday.  It was just the three of us, with absolutely no plans, so this is what our day looked like:  I woke up early, burned off some turkey and mashed potatoes from the night before, then whipped up a breakfast of waffles, bacon and eggs for my main men.  Then, we loaded up and went to the movie "Frozen" had popcorn for lunch and then home for nap time.  During that time, while my guys were sleeping, I slaved away in the kitchen on my homemade cranberry sauce (first ever time making it) spiral ham, and homemade scalloped potatoes, per my husband's request.  We ate an early dinner around 4:30, so we could head out for some black Friday shopping.  We honestly had so much fun that day, and it is definitlely a Thanksgiving we won't ever forget.

We started the Elf on the Shelf tradition this year, by letting Madden open him up the night of Thanksgiving..."Randy" has already gotten into some mischief ;)

Later that night, after the boys went to sleep, my Mom and sister got into town around 10:30, where we proceeded to do more black Friday shopping until about 2 am, came back to our house, took a six hour nap, and then headed back out around 9 the next morning!  Crazy??  Maybe, but I got ALL of my Christmas shopping done!  Now all that's left is to wrap the hundreds of presents...any volunteers??

Saturday morning we loaded up the car, once again, this time bags packed, and headed back east for our final two Thanksgivings.  We spent the day on Saturday with Aaron's family, just hanging out, letting the kids play, while the ladies shopped online, and the guys watched football...then the hubs, Madden and I snuck up to my parents for a couple hours that night to spend some one on one time with them, since we wouldn't get the chance to do that during that crazy weekend!

Sunday morning, I got dressed up to head to a craft fair with my Mother and Sister in-laws for more shopping!  I scored some pretty cute door hangers for super cheap!  A snowman and a birthday cupcake...the husband just shook his head when I came home with those...men just don't get it, do they??

Then Sunday noon was spent at my Dad's parent's house with about 30 others for our last and final feast.  We left Grandma and Grandpa's around 2:30, to get home just in time to unpack and lounge the rest of the night before preparing for the week ahead!

It was a whirlwind week, and I will be trying to burn off the lbs of potatoes, stuffing, pie and turkey for the next month!  But it was so worth it.  We had a great time, made lots of memories and realized just how thankful we really are for what we have been blessed with.  I hope you all had just as much fun this Thanksgiving!

What about you?  Did you travel far?  How many Thanksgivings did you have?

Until next time...