Thanksgiving 2012

Greg and I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving visiting our families in St. Charles.  As we grow older, spending quality time with our family and friends becomes so important to us.  We had a weekend full of events in order to make the most of our time. 

We were able to run in a 5K Thanksgiving Turkey Trot with Greg's sister, Danielle.  Abby was able to run it with us as well.  There were around 3500 participants in the race, so we had pretty decent times considering how much we had to maneuver through the crowds to pass people.

Thanksgiving was a little different this year because my family pushed their get-together off until Saturday because my parents were sick the prior weekend.  So, we went to the Turkey Trot, had lunch with my family, took a short nap, and then went over to Greg's family's house.  At Greg's family's house, it almost seems like a tradition to look through all the Black Friday ads.  We haven't gone shopping in years on Black Friday, but it's interesting to see all the items on sale.  Hopefully some of you got up early to face all the crowds and started your Christmas shopping. 

We always look forward to Greg's Mom's Thanksgiving meal because she is a dietitian and she always has a different side dish for us to try.  Last year it was an amazing pomegranate gravy, and this year there was a salad with a beet dressing and blue cheese.  It was delicious!  We didn't play many games because a lot of us kept falling asleep.  I blame it on working out that morning.  We will be ready for games during the Christmas break, and we will have to start playing earlier in the day so we don't get too tired. 

I just can't leave out the fact that Greg's brother, Alex, was growing a mustache.  He had his tonsils taken out the two weeks prior, and while he was off work he thought he would give the mustache a shot.  He looked a lot like his Dad... and a creeper.

On Friday morning, we helped Greg's Mom and Dad put up the Christmas tree and holiday decorations around the house.  Greg and I only have 2 plastic totes of decorations and Greg's family had at least 10.  It's amazing how many decorations you can accumulate over time from gifts every year from friends and family.  Decorating definitely made me ready for Christmas to come already. 

My Aunt Patty had my Mom's side of the family over.  It is always nice to see relatives when we are home and my cousins that were home from college.  Greg and I were talking the other day about how he knew Kevin when Kevin was shorter than him.  What happened!

Greg and I couldn't stay too long because we had plans with our friends.  They all came over to my parents' house for dinner and games.  The night ended very well with us all playing "Just Dance" on the Wii.  Kala and I started first, and then Greg and Derek decided to try it.  Jeremy just couldn't resist his urge to dance as well, so he joined in next.  The boys should have took pictures of us girls while they could, but they didn't get any.  The pictures below are priceless!

On Saturday, we relaxed around the house and spent time on our computers.  My Dad and I took Abby and Joey to Wapplehorse Park and allowed them to run around.  It finally got a little chillier when the weekend started off so nice.  My Dad's side of the family came over for Thanksgiving that evening.  We hung out, ate turkey again, and played some games.  The highlight of the party as usual is my cousin's daughter, Bella.  She made us some plastic cake dessert, yelled my name repeatedly and pretended to be a cat for most of the night.

I picked up the "cat" that wanted to get away from me.  She learns from Chase so well.

We wrapped up the evening back at Greg's parents' house watching football, while I browsed Pinterest for Christmas decoration ideas.  Like I said, I'm really ready for Christmas to be here.  It was a long weekend full of family activities.  Now we're back at home ready to decorate for Christmas and counting the days down to another vacation.  We're happy Christmas is on a Tuesday this year and not just over the weekend so we can have more time at home.