Thanksgiving, Round Two

Or: Train Sets Aren't Just for Two Year Olds.

My family came to our house for Thanksgiving because Tennessee is kinda in the middle of all the states in which my family resides: Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, and South Carolina. Starting with my parents' arrival at 3:30am, everyone got in on Wednesday and the house was instantly jam-packed at every turn (which is the best way for a house to be).

Isaac's Christmas gift from us, a train set, was given to him on arrival so he'd have more toys to play with throughout the weekend. After a few minutes playing with the trains, Isaac moved on to a coloring book and the men took over constructing a complex, interwoven set of tracks.

Wednesday progressed with trains, white chicken chili, and catching up on the events that happened since August, the last time we were all together. We tried to get to bed early because my sisters, mom and I were running a 5K bright and early Thanksgiving morning.

Isaac post-bath with a damp-hair mohawk

7:00am found Mom, Sarah, Courtney and I shivering in the cold amidst a pack of at least three hundred people, waiting for the 5K to start so we could finally warm up. Deric met us at the finish line so we'd have evidence that we all ran a 5K together.

Foo and I on the last leg--that's Foo in front, me waving

finish line!

After the race, our Thanksgiving Day went as probably everyone's Turkey Day goes. We watched the Macy's Day parade. Mom, Dad, myself and a few others took turns baking and cooking (but Mom and Dad did the most): turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pineapple casserole, and rolls. For dessert, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, cran-apple cobbler, and apple pie. Goodness gracious.

someone's ready to eat!

Dinner was at 2:00 rather than the prescheduled 4:00 due to a turkey that was done cooking 4 1/2 hours early.

We took turns playing with and entertaining the two-year old.

Great-Grandma & Isaac look at the animals

 We watched Fox's Ice Age Christmas special because Foo is a big fan of Sid the Sloth, then watched the new Charlie Brown special (which was much worse than the original Charlie Browns, sadly).

Friday was much of the same. Leftovers galore, naps, animated movies, and a trip to the mall once the Black Friday craziness was mostly over. I picked up a game I was introduced to during grad school and had all but forgotten, The Great Dalmuti. Weird name, but such a fun game for a big group of people. Come over and we'll teach you how to play;)

Isaac and Aunt Foo baked sugar cookies with icing and peppermints on top. I baked gingerbread cookies, my all-time favorite holiday cookie.

On Saturday, my grandparents and Tim, Court and the little man had to head home. No more train track building, so we spent hours playing The Great Dalmuti and Farkle (a dice game). We put up the Christmas tree and hung stockings. We decorated the mantle and Sarah helped me create more yarn trees to add to the display (more to come on that).

And then, the BEST part of the entire weekend!

Sarah's boyfriend, Drew, and his parents drove up from South Carolina to surprise her. (I knew he was coming to surprise her, but didn't put two and two together as to why...) She answered the door, he had a few Christmas presents for her, including..

A ring! His grandmother's, actually-- fifty years old and beautiful.

Congratulations, Sarah and Drew! What a way to end Thanksgiving 2011!