Thanksgiving Feasting and Christmas Decorating

While our plans to spend the day with family did not work out, we did enjoy Thanksgiving together as a family. Wednesday evening was the last Buck has felt up to working, and we welcomed him home with Christmas cheer slowly seeping out of the plastic storage tubs Graysen was so excited to dig into. It also helped that Buck brought home a Christmas tree :)

So, Brennen went to work with a saw and a tree stand in the garage, while Graysen hung the stockings by the fireplace. Eventually, we pulled out all the nativity scene creatures and people and set them up for their annual display. A few odds and ends made their way around the upper level of the house, and then Buck brought Brennen's fragrant project up the stairs. It fit . . . mostly . . . in the window nook. We can always touch up paint later ;)

Thanksgiving morning, we watched the parade (of course!) I was bummed HGTV didn't run their commercial-free version; I always like that better than the network broadcasts. However, I've decided that someday when I visit Rockefeller Center at Christmas to skate (or at least watch the skaters) on the pond in front of the giant tree . . . I'm also going to see what I can do about getting Buck and myself a gig as Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus in the Thanksgiving Day parade. It seems like a reasonable goal, right? :)



Buck started the turkey smoking while the girls made pies and Caelan whipped up the sweet potatoes (yum!) Gabby washed all the tiny potatoes we dug from our garden, and I boiled them and mashed them into a glorious yellow mountain of deliciousness. Because the turkey was smoked, we didn't have many juices to make broth with--so I figured out how to gravy it up with bullion cubes; surprisingly tasty! They boys requested brussels sprouts and asparagus, so the vegetable group was well represented on our table :) It was a super delicious meal!

And a very pretty day, weather wise! Buck wasn't feeling up to anything after all the turkey worky, but when the kids and I started hauling out the Christmas lights and yard ornaments, he rallied for his rooftop decorating duties. He even attached Olaf to the shingles, so that feisty inflatable snowman could get a better view of the neighborhood, I guess :) We are excited that the new neighbors are also decorators, as this was the blank spot on our colorfully lit cul-de-sac canvas last year. We were joking that we will soon be a tourist destination, and might have to consider charging some fees: "It's free to drive our neighborhood and admire the lights, but you'll have to pay to leave--here's a candy cane!" :) During our afternoon of decorating, we discovered a few bulb lines had gone down, so Buck and I ran to the store to grab three more strands of Christmas lights (thanks Black Friday sale!) and to return the Redbox movies that we'd had far too long, and only watched one of. Drat! We decided to continue our decorating the follow day. 

Early the next morning, Buck and the boys headed to the woods with our pastor and his sons; it's their first year of wood burning and Buck's kind of an expert in the field :) Leaving the house was a challenge that day, but Buck was really glad he and the boys went. They worked hard moving, stacking, and splitting wood. Our pastor's oldest son is a great kid, and our boys really enjoy hanging out with him. They were super stoked to have like four hours to spend with their friend! The next morning at church, the pastor's two-year-old came barreling down the aisle with a huge grin on his face straight at Buck! Buck scooped him up for a big hug. It was sooo cute! I guess the little guy was out helping with the big guys the morning before, and Buck made a new friend :)

After our trio returned, it took awhile for all the football games to be over so I could generate some interest in tree decorating. In fact, I had all the ornaments laid out and waiting for when the kids all headed upstairs (Brennen helped me with the inside tree lights earlier :) We had some Christian rap Christmas music or something the girls found on Spotify playing, and soon B turned into my nephew A, who might be Christmas decorating's biggest fan. B was loving it! And even though he looks 10 feet tall and the tree looks about three feet tall in the pictures, I promise it's just a crazy camera angle. He thought it was pretty funny that he looked like a giant, though.




Rewinding a bit to when the boys were in the woods, the girls were super busy working on sewing projects. Caelan is knitting up a storm, as she always does this time of year, but they are also working on a tricky baby quilt our next door neighbor ordered for her baby (due in late January). The selected fabrics are super cute! Gabby figured out a fancy origami fold that makes it possible to use the sewing machine for the arrow points (before it was super bunchy and hard to get both pieces properly sewn together). The girls are also working on birthday gifts for those who have upcoming birthdays . . . hmmm, I wonder what they could be?! Ha!






Why, yes! Gabby is teaching herself Mele Kalikimaka on the ukulele! Appropriate, right? And you can see all other the projects filling our living room with Christmas . . . cheer . . . I can handle the chaos when I know something good is coming from it :)





And in other important announcements, I think I got our Christmas letter figured out! Gabby thought my first draft was shaky. Brennen loved it! Brennen enjoys winning the "favorite child of the day" award, lol ;) However, I put some more time into the letter and got Gabby's approval. Whew! I've been addressing envelopes for two days, and I think tomorrow the stuffing, stamping, and labeling will commence. Good grief, it's not even December yet! What will I do to keep myself festive for all the weeks to come? :)