Food. Babies. Shopping.

Ah, the blessed time of year when family and food come together as one! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! In years passed, our Thanksgiving gatherings could be considered chaotic (but awesome!) as 30+ relatives gather in my grandparents house. This year we had 15 people dine at Becca's house. Yes, that may still seem like a large number, but comparatively it was rather small! Despite the lack of relatives, it was still a great Thanksgiving!! Sadly, I didn't document our delicious feast, and I totally forgot about these Thanksgiving props until Angela pulled them out!

Reese's pie! (Recipe courtesy of Caroline Barrington)

Angela was so proud of her pumpkin rolls!

You know I can resist my sibling's offspring! ;)
She wanted to play cards with the adults.

Ashley's team wasn't doing so well this round of Hand and Foot!

Carl & I were SMOKIN' everyone though!
Until round 2... Ahem.

Ryan took Imogen's place!

Best buds :)

And what happens after gorging on turkey, stuffing, and delicious pies? Shopping, of course!! I think I've gone Black Friday shopping every year for the past five or so years. Carl and I have gone together for the past three years, I believe! I ventured out for the midnight sales with Ashley and Autumn. Ashley likes to get feisty in line ;)

Mads was helping us go through the Black Friday sales ;)

Waiting in line at Target!

Waiting in line at Old Navy
Seeing a pattern? ;)

For Family Home Evening a month ago, we had a lesson about being grateful. I suggested we start a a thankful jar that night and write down one thing we're thankful for. So every night for the past month we would read our scriptures and record what we were thankful for that day. I somehow had three more slips than Carl; he must have not caught up after our Utah visit! Here are a few things we listed:

- for strong, secure hands to hold
- photographs
- the ability to provide for ourselves
- great books
- for days off






We are officially listening to Christmas music! :) I am a stickler about giving Thanksgiving it's proper festivities! We're excited to start decorating and remembering the reason for the season. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!