The LLLOOONNNGGG Weekend Rewind

It was quite the adjustment to go back to work today after being off work for the past 4 days...and even more of an adjustment since most of those days included little to no official plans! Hubby and I had a great Thanksgiving holiday and it was so great to spend time with friends, family, & just our little family of 2...soon to be 3!

We started off with our one and only Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday at my parents' house. I was in charge of the mashed potatoes and thankfully 2 pans turned out to be enough for the almost 40 people who filled my parents house. I was a big fat failure when it came to taking pictures on Thanksgiving, but I was forced to spend plenty of time resting so as not to overdue it with helping out. Definitely a hard thing for this girl to do!

We had a wonderful meal, followed by some time outside in the beautiful weather. As is tradition, we also had a Thanksgiving Day craft for the ladies. I'd share more details...but some of it turned into a Christmas gift so I can't share the details!

However, this is what the table looked like while we were getting our craft on!

Hubby & I spent the afternoon and evening with my parents' & my brother & SIL, just hanging out together...after the craziness of the crowds, it was nice to spend some quality time with just the 6 of us.

With no official plans for Friday or Saturday, Hubby & I took advantage of the Black Friday sales online and managed to get probably 95% of our shopping done without ever leaving the warmth of our bed! Since we obviously have no idea when Elyse will arrive, it's so nice to have so much of my shopping done. I'd love to be able to say that I was super prepared and finished up early, but that's just not true! However, I've only got a few things left to take care of and shopping will be done for this year!

We did stop by Lowe's and cashed in on some Black Friday deals there...including a great deal on another storage locker for the garage. Something about bringing another person into this house, makes additional storage a necessity! Hubby also spent a lot of Friday working on the outside lights before we headed out for a gourmet dinner at Chick-Fil-A and a little bit of legitimate Black Friday shopping. We checked a few more things off our list before coming home for a movie on the couch. The perfect Black Friday if you ask me!

Saturday was another day full of decking the halls! Hubby was incredible and unloaded almost EVERY SINGLE ONE of these boxes, put ornaments on the tree as I unwrapped them, and even spent a ton of time decorating the house. That's normally a task I look so forward to...but this year, the whole process was just a bit overwhelming! However, Hubby knew how important it was to me and so we knocked out the decorating in no time flat!

We took ALL of these boxes...

and created this....

and this...

and much, much more that I'll get show later on!

Saturday night we enjoyed dinner with my parents' before heading out to a Missouri State Bears basketball game...it was a crazy overtime win, but a win's a win!

Sunday we had a fabulous church service and then came home for a bit of R & R. We had plans to have another productive day but both ended up napping on the couch! Ooops!

Last night we headed to Silver Dollar City in Branson with my parents for the incredible light display. If I'm being honest, it was also an attempt at possibly jump-starting Elyse's arrival! ha! All of the walking is bound to encourage her arrival to be sooner rather than later...right?!?

We had a wonderful evening as there was basically NO one there. We had hot chocolate, a funnel cake, and cinnamon rolls...yum! The food is incredible at SDC!

Hubby on a rocking horse...he tried to convince me to hop on, but there isn't much hopping left in this momma!
One of the beautiful light displays!

My wonderful parents

Hubby & I while riding the train

The highlight of the park...the singing tree...absolutely stunning!

Hubby & I

It was a fabulous evening and maybe a new family tradition...the weather was just perfect with just a bit of a chill in the air and the lack of a crowd made it even better!

Today it's back to the grindstone, but wonderful to have another Monday going to work together with Hubby. It's crazy to think about the fact that we have no idea when my last day at work will be...I have this feeling Elyse will definitely be making her debut before Dec. 17th! Only time will tell!