A week of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year.  First of all, I took a week of vacation time - and I actually didn't work during my vacation.  A new world record for me!  Tyler had the brilliant idea of taking me away for a few days, just the two of us.  Sadly we have never done this since Jack was born.  That is 9 1/2 years folks.  His parents were coming for Thanksgiving and were happy to watch the kids overnight so we could run away.  We stayed at the Northern Quest Casino in Spokane and enjoyed some great meals, fun shopping, a movie, and some much needed non-kid time.  It was all Tyler's idea and it was amazing!  I even got to play around on pinterest and find some ideas for my Thanksgiving table.  We also went grocery shopping (a luxury without kids) to get all of the Thanksgiving fixin's.

When we got back, it was time to start cooking.  Judy (Tyler's mom) and Jack were great helpers.  Jack wanted to do it all, so he made cranberry sauce, dips, helped with stuffing, sweet potatoes and rolls.  When we were done cooking, Jack also helped me with my centerpiece, boxes, and place cards.  Judy also helped with food prep and Steve (Tyler's dad) helped gather up chairs and get stuff ready for the big day.  While Tyler was not working, he was on Logan duty (full time job).

Thanksgiving morning was stress free as I finished up the prep until the sink clogged and overflowed.  Tyler and Steve fixed it up fast and it only put be behind a little bit.  Our friends the Rahlfs came for dinner.  They have three kids and another on the way.  Ashley brought the most beautiful rainbow jello that I have ever seen and it was so yummy.  Seriously people, I can't make regular jello, so I was VERY impressed.  The food turned out great, and it was just a wonderful meal with family and friends.  Everyone cleaned up dishes and let me take a rest - very nice.  I looked through some ads to see if there was any reason to get up early the next morning.  Answer - NO.

Later that evening we had the 9th annual Wirick pie night.  This Tyler's favorite tradition that we started while we were living in Nebraska (law school days).  He got so excited that he posted it on facebook.  I was a little worried that we would not have enough room for everyone, but it turned out great.  In attendance were the Rahlfs, Wiricks, Taggarts, Olsens, Nick (attorney from Tyler's office) and girlfriend, Zobels, Calkins.  That makes 16 adults and 21 kids.  I think there about 15 pies plus other goodies.  We sent the kids to play in the basement and had a great time visiting.  The pie was awesome, and I was exhausted!

On Friday, I spent the day putting up my Christmas decorations, we ran a few errands/shopped a little, and we got a babysitter so that the grown ups could go to dinner out at the Cedars.  The Wirick's left Saturday morning and Tyler and I spend Saturday cleaning up the pine needles in the yard left by the last storm and hanging Christmas lights.

Here are some pics of he Thanksgiving festivities (I forgot to take pictures of people, my focus was definitely getting it all ready to go.  The people were cute too :) )...

Too bad I had to go back to work on Monday.