Thanksgiving Weekend

. . . and BELIEVE ME, one does need an entire weekend!!

Wednesday at work, we had a YUMMY potluck lunch, and after that MY weekend began! I have to use up all my vacation days, before December 29th, so . . . what can you do???

Anyhoo . . . my sister, Karalee and I went shopping that night, with a friend of ours (waving at you, Alex!!), and what the HECK were we thinking????? Ya, the grocery store was a madhouse, and somebody (okay, it was me!!) didn't think about getting everything else first, and then the ice cream last! That was an adventure, though, so why not??

Thanksgiving morning, after sleeping in, (delightful!!) I got to be a mechanic's helper! Ever try to make pie crust AND hold the lamp, at the same time? Okay, neither did I, but I was a little stressed about it, for a little while! I wanted my French Silk Pie to be PERFECT!!!

I made tacos for lunch . . . my brother, Bart, and his son, Matt, came over from California, so I invited them, along with Karalee and her kids, to come over for lunch. Chase was the only taker! So, the boys and I enjoyed tacos and conversation, and then it was back to work!

I made a fruit salad and green bean casserole, and the French Silk Pie. Karalee had made some comment about keeping the mash potatoes warm in the crock pot, and then I thought, "Hey, why couldn't that work for the green bean casserole???" So, I mixed the beans with the soup, garlic and milk, and put it in the crock pot. (Ask anyone . . . I LOVE my Crock pot!!!!) Then, all I had to do, once I arrived at Karalee's house was put them in the casserole dish, and distribute the onion thingys over the top. . . . YUM!

Anyway, I'm sharing some photos . . . making Maddy proud! I will list commentary, under the photos . . . I KNOW you are holding your breath with anticipation! LOL

Okay, my cute SIL, Diane, does such a good job with creative projects, to keep her 3 VERY energetic children busy! For Family Home Evening, last Monday, they made these cute turkeys, to be the centerpieces on Thanksgiving, after they had a lesson about Thanksgiving. How cute are those faces???


The name cards are also something that Diane came up with . . . the kids had a great time getting all messy with paint, while we waited for the turkey to finish up. Okay, I will admit it . . . I had fun too! I DID take photos of the actual process, but didn't want to bore you all with the details! LOL

Please notice the BEAUTIFUL relish tray! Again, Diane! Next time that girl tries to tell me that she's not creative or crafty, I will have one thing to say to her, "Relish tray!!" I did discover that day, though, that she comes by it naturally, because her dad is something of a food artist, also.

I also warned Diane that she will NEVER be without the relish tray assignment, from this day forward! And she was so generous with olives and YUMMY ranch dressing . . . she truly rocked the relish tray!!

And, finally, the photo of the beverage assortment that we had on Thanksgiving. I scored at Food City - 10 2 liter bottles of soda for $9.50! Woo hoo!

Anyway, that isn't why I am posting this photo! Instead, I want to tell you about Theron . . . he's the little guy, in the photo of the kids above. He "loves" everything right now! And, he is fascinated, and suddenly very thirsty, whenever he sees anyone with a soda. (which, regretably, in my family, someone always has one!)

So, on Thanksgiving, all the soda was assembled on the high bartop counter, at my sister's house. And Theron stops and stares up in awe, at the very colorful (and obviously plentiful!) array of beverages.

He said, "Look at dat soda!"

Then he said, with a sigh, "I LOVE soda!"

His cute little 2 year old brain . . .

Later, as we were having pie, he was eating pumpkin pie. He held his spoon in his left hand, as he scooped up his next bite with the fingers of his right hand.

He looks up at me, mouth full of pie and whipped cream and says, "I LOVE punkin' pie!"

He's just soooooooooooo cute! Before he turned 2, he couldn't formulate sentences well, and was a little hard to understand. But, then his birthday happened and suddenly you can't keep him quiet, and he is much easier to understand. And also, more inclined to temper tantrums, but that's another story! LOL

So, the holiday season is officially underway . . . Hold on to your seats!

***Edited for one more cute Theron story! We're all sitting at the tables, of course we had a kid table!, and suddenly Theron cries out, "That's di-gusting!!" Apparently he had mashed potatoes on his fingers, and didn't like that! He is VERY texture sensitive! But dang, he makes me laugh!

(You should hear him say, "That's Alicious!" . . . . instead of "delicious"!)