Thanksgiving Rewind 2013 x 3

Our Thanksgiving weekend was jam-packed full of fun with all sorts of family.  We had three different Thanksgiving celebrations...Thursday, Friday, & Saturday. 

The one little bummer of the holidy is that it was REALLY COLD on Thanksgiving so I decided to stay at home with Elyse instead of joining Hubby in the annual Turkey Trot.  We had access to a jogging stroller that even had a nice cover, but momma was a baby & decided to stay home and play with her baby girl instead!  Hubby bundled up and headed out, and still had a good time with some of our friends from church! 

Yup...he's a goober!

After Hubby got back from his race, we ate a quick breakfast and then headed down to my parents for the annual Thanksgiving feast!  We had a delicious meal with nearly 30 of my family members and spent the rest of the afternoon watching football, hanging out, and completing our annual Thanksgiving craft.  This year it was button trees--which I failed to take a picture of--but I made a couple cute ones to add to our Christmas decor. 

Oh these two...love them so!

Ornery Elyse

Elyse & her cousin Harper---these two are going to be trouble a year from now!

Our precious family...love them all so!

Elyse laid down after everyone had left--I think she was tired from missing her nap!

Seriously, could I be anymore blessed!

Friday we took our time getting ready and then we met up with Hubby's parents for lunch.  We dropped Elyse with them and then we went and did some late-Black Friday shopping.  We managed to knock LOTS off of our list and still got some pretty good deals.  We've still got 2 people to buy for and hoping to finish them up very soon! 

After our shopping excursion, we headed over to Mamaw & Pappy's house for another Thanksgiving celebration.  We had a fabulous meal and Elyse spent lots of time playing with her cousins Hunter & Jackson.  Mamaw also read them a story called "The Sparkle Box" and gifted us a copy of our own to start a new holiday tradition.  For any of you with children, or even if you don't have children, I would highly recommend picking up this book--it's a great reminder of the "Reason for the Season."

Mamaw & her grandkids

Saturday morning Hubby headed out to start work on our outside decorations and I spent the morning inside with Elyse.  Around noon we headed down the road just a little ways for our last Thanksgiving celebration.  This one was pretty special, as my great-aunts had organized a family reunion of sorts for my Granny's side of the family.  The gathering included over 110 people!  Again, I failed to take many pictures, but it was a fun day to see lots of people that I don't get to see very often.  Elyse was in heaven because the gathering was held on a farm.  With COWS!!!  Thankfully the weather was beautiful and we could all be outside.  A photographer did manage to get lots of group pictures, so hopefully I'll share those once we get the disc. 

It was a crazy afternoon with so many people, but just another reminder of how blessed we are with so much wonderful family.  

I truly hope you all were able to experience a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family & friends.  The holiday season has officially begun...with all the craziness it brings.  But my hope is that we are able to remember Christ's birth above all, that we would remember why we celebrate Christmas, and that we can instill the concept of giving in Elyse so that years from now she will have a heart for giving, just as God has given us so much.