Thanksgiving

Finally!  After 5 years of marriage and 7 years as "adults," Chris and I finally had our turn to host a major holiday.  Thanksgiving 2012 at the Texas Hunnifords!  It was the first time since I went to college that I have not traveled for Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure which part I was more excited about - the chance to plan the holiday menu with all of the foods that I wanted to eat (and none of the ones I didn't!), or the opportunity to avoid the hassle and expense flying with two small children on the busiest travel weekend of the year.  Its still a toss-up.

We were joined here in Houston by Chris's parents, sister and brother-in-law.  How did you sleep all of those people in your 2/2 bungalow, you ask?  Ah well, we didn't.  We house/dog sat for some friends down the street, where Chris's parents slept.  It was a win/win for all parties concerned.

So on Thanksgiving day I cooked and cooked and cooked some more.  It was very tiring, but I enjoyed it.  Wasn't my turkey pretty?

It turns out that I made way too much food.  People seemed surprised that I made so many dishes - I didn't think it was that many.  Maybe my family eats more?  Either way, it made for excellent leftovers for several days.  Actually, we still have some turkey in the fridge...mmm sandwiches.

Not pictured are the two pies.  I had lovely visions of a beautiful meal in my head.  Some of them turned out, some didn't.  Sam managed to stay in his chair for more than half of the meal, but didn't eat much.  He enjoyed a pumpkin cookie while the rest of us finished at the table.  Annabelle actually ate a greater variety of Thanksgiving foods - homemade apple sauce (Aunt Becky's), homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries.

More important than what she ate, of course, is what she wore.  I made her an adorable tutu.  And then I found the awesome feather hair clip.  My little turkey was tutu cute :-)

I would like to tell you that I also planned a slew of entertaining activities for our out of towners, but that would be a lie.  We did a good deal of playing at home with the kids, with the borrowed dog and trips to the grocery store.  But on Saturday (morning of course, it was also rivalry day in the world of college sports and we had 3 rivalry games that people cared about.  2 turned out well, 1 not so much.  O-H...) we did make it out of the house.  We enjoyed a cool morning walk at the Houston Arboretum.

Oh, and I made the boys hang Christmas lights on the roof and wall shelves on a new wall.  We also started the Christmas decorating, because its the first time I could do it so early!

It was a nice visit.  Sam bonded with Becky and Benton a bit, mostly over early morning games of slide-y soccer.  Its good to have people with energy around to play with him.  Chris and I got to go on a date on Friday night - our first time in a movie theater in almost 3 years!  We were all tired on Monday morning, and it appears that Annabelle is a bit more attached to me.