Thanksgiving and Black...... Thursday?

Thanksgiving was so much fun this year. Like I said previously, this was our first Thanksgiving away from family. I actually had to work and prepare food! Haha.

We got together with our friends the Sharp's and Ira and I did the menu together. After we did it, we though it might be a little much, but we wanted a variety and we also wanted to be able to split leftovers.

Here's what we had:

Appetizers-
Veggie/Relish Tray
Hot Artichoke Dip with Chips and Crackers
Bacon-wrapped Chestnuts

Main Meal-
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing
Rolls
Green Bean Casserole
Spinach Casserole
Glazed Carrots
Sweet Potato Casserole
Raspberry Jello

Desserts-
Pumpkin Pie Crunch
Oreo Ice Crem Dessert
Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now.... this was only between 2 familys. We had 4 adults and 7 children. And TONS of food. We had more than half of it leftover and we were all stuffed! It all turned out so delicious and I was so proud of myself for making half of our Thanksgiving meal. And I was surprised how much I enjoyed doing it. They might make a Betty Crocker out of me yet :)

I only got a couple pictures and all the adults ducked out of the second one (or tried to :). We love our friends the Sharps and are glad they don't have family nearby so we had someone to spend Thanksgiving with!
The cute kids at their table

Part of our delicious spread....along with my goofy husband

This year has been full of so many up's and down's, but more than anything, it has been full of so many blessing. I am so grateful for the gospel and am so thankful for how close our family has become. Especially Andy and myself. We've been able to grow together as a couple this year more than ever because of how much we've had to depend on each other. It's been a little rough at times and so joyful at times and I am thankful for it all. I am especially, above all, thankful for my Savior. I love Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time of year.

Now.....onto Christmas! I think I've said it in past years, but I am part of a vanishing breed who cannot even think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I adore Christmas, but I love Thanksgiving so much too and don't want it to get lost. Anyway, I am a HUGE Black Friday shopper. It is so much fun! I didn't have a big list this year (is it just me, or were there not that many great deals?) and I was only trying to make it to 2 stores. Toys R Us and Walmart. This year Toys R Us opened at.... 10 PM. What the heck? I believe it's Black Friday, not Black Thanksgiving or Black Thursday. I was so annoyed. But I went ahead and fed my baby at 9:30 and left by myself (I had no one to go with this year....kind of a bummer, but I made friends in line and still had fun!) to head over there. The line was insane. I know I've mentioned that we live in a "countryish" area. Everything is a ways away and there is one HUGE shopping center that has every store you can imagine, but that is it. There are no duplicate stores. If you want to go to another Toys R Us, it's 45 minutes away. So, needless to say, every person in my city was at this one Toys R Us. The line went all the way around the back of the store and wrapped around the parking lot 3 times. I waited in line for an hour and didn't get too far, so I left and headed to Walmart which was were my bigger ticket items were. I got there a little before midnight, found everything I needed and proceeded to wait in line for an hour and a half. Bleh. I went back to Toys R Us and they were just letting in the very end of the line. I made it in and got the LAST one of the 4 things on my list. Everything I needed was there. And I got the last one of all of them. What are the chances? I got everything on my Black Friday list, got amazing deals, finished my kids' Christmas shopping, and had a ton of fun. Hopefully next year I'll have someone to go with to make it even more fun!

Anyway, I made it home a little after 3 AM just in time for my baby to wake up and eat! Perfect. The next morning I headed out again and went to a few more stores and got a few more great deals. Good times! I love this time of year.