The Post-Thanksgiving Report

Wow - what a great Thanksgiving!!

While it had some fun and interesting parts, it had all of the classics that make it Thanksgiving - lots of family, lots of food, and lots of good times!!

Along with the regulars - Mom and Dad, Ryan, Shannon and the girls, BigPa and Grandma, George and Edith, and Shannon's parents - we had a new member join in the turkey fun! This is Cali - Meagan and Lexie's new puppy -


This is one of the cutest puppies EVER - she's only 7 weeks old and VERY calm at this point in her young life. Anyone who kind of knows Landry knows that he is "stared" (scared) of pretty much all of God's creations in the animal department. And dogs are at the top of his list! So when Cali joined in the fun, I was a little worried about how Landry would react (even though she stayed out in the garage for most of the day - accompanied by her heater, of course!!) But he really warmed up to her - I was very pleasantly surprised! Here are some cute pics of them!

This is of Landry's hand actually touching her back - very impressive! Way to go, Landry!!

And this picture shows just how far Landry came in one short day - to have a look with any kind of excitement on it at all shows huge progress!!

Onto the food report -

The turkey was great, the dressing amazing, and the pumpkin pie awesome! This, however, shows what a big girl I'm growing up to be:

My mom made this Paula Deen recipe for Broccoli Slaw. Now, I have to admit, when I heard "broccoli slaw" I thought that that didn't even make sense. That would be like having green bean cobbler or grilled spaghetti or something equally as odd. And when I saw it, I was 100% sure that that would not be passing through my lips. It was made for the over-40 crowd and my mom certainly didn't expect me to eat any!! But when I smelled it, it really smelled pretty good. So, being the big girl that I am, after both Ryan and Shannon tried it and didn't pass out from gross-ness, I tried it and I, surprisingly, liked it! It was good!! I'm not sure I would make it for the boys, but it was good. Interesting, but good!! (this picture was in the leftover bowl - I didn't think to take a picture of it beforehand, because I didn't plan on eating any!!

And from the crazy Thanksgiving file, it started to snow late afternoon!! What makes that so crazy is that it has been so warm for like the last, well, since last spring!! To put it in perspective, on Tuesday, I was cutting the grass, riding around the yard in my shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops while my neighbors were putting up their Christmas lights!! (funny picture!) On Thursday, it was snowing! That is insane!! Let us work into the cold weather, for goodness sake!! Here's the proof:

I know, it doesn't look like much - but it was enough!! Of course, the ground was plenty warm from our summer-like conditions so it didn't stick much.

And, as always, a highlight of the Thanksgiving weekend is the Friday after. The post-thanksgiving day sales always beckon me and I must go! My normal shopping partner, Jenny, couldn't go this year because she is at home on her left side, growing a very special baby in that high blood pressured body of hers!!

So, my good friend, Emily agreed to be my partner and meet me at Walmart before 5:00 AM!! Now, anyone who knows Emily know that her spiritual gift is NOT getting up early!! In fact, the night before, I could sense a little back-pedaling in her commitment to find the best deals on earth. (for example, she said - If you don't see me there when you get there, just go ahead and go in - I'll find you! uh-huh - sure you will!) But she actually beat me there and already knew the lay of the land when I got there. We shopped from before 5:00 until about 2:00 and had some crazy-good times. Lots of interesting people and shopping going on on a day like that! The good news is that I got many people marked off of my list and Emily ... well, you'll just have to ask her how it turned out for her!

One last picture from a great couple of days: