Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we were able to enjoy the presence of my parents, my brother Mike and his family, as well as Scott and his. We really enjoyed being together as family and wish that Matt's family and Jeff's clan had been able to visit as well. We had a fabulous traditional Thanksgiving dinner complete with Turkey, mashed potatoes, the world's best turkey gravy, stuffing, green beans, rolls, and PIE! It was incredibly delicious.

*Dad entertaining little Carlie as the turkey was being carved*

We also spent some time making gingerbread houses with the kids.

It was more challenging than we realized it would be! We had several houses that just would not stay up and just collapsed, but then there's the one Mike and Katie made...

We also had a couple mishaps with the frosting! First of all, it ended up being extremely runny and after adding the rest of the powdered sugar, we started adding flour to thicken it up. That's where the second mishap comes in. As I was getting the flour canister to give to Meggan, the lid popped off and it spilled everywhere! All over the stove, counter, floor,

me, and Meggan!Ha ha! Nevertheless, we had a good time trying to make these!

We also, of course, played our traditional game of Bingo. The kids always love it, and the adults have a good time too! Gotta love the prizes that Mom buys (usually from the dollar store). :)

Then on Friday morning, Ben and I made another trip to Walmart for a few Black Friday deals. Scott and Kim came with us and kindly rummaged through the movie selection for us (and themselves) to grab some great movies at great prices while Ben and I split up to get other things. It was a madhouse like always, but this is the one day each year where I don't mind the crowds and actually kind of enjoy it! I do just wish people could be a bit more calm and reasonable and polite...but then it wouldn't be Black Friday.

Ben and I really enjoyed sharing this holiday with family. Thanks for coming, everyone!

Leaving you with this parting shot of Carlie. Ha! :) She's so cute!