Our Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm lucky enough to work for an awesome company that gives our team a long four day weekend for Thanksgiving! This weekend has been wonderful and just what we needed to kick off the busy month ahead. Scott and I have lots of fun plans in December but they'll keep us busy considering we won't have a free weekend until New Years! Although it will be a lot to juggle, I can't pretend to be anything but excited.

The weekend kicked off with a lunch day with my favorite guy - my Dad. He picked me up after I finished work up for the day an we headed to Tacoma. Along the way I got to by chance see the house Dad grew up in and hear about all of his childhood stories. So fun to hear him talk about life years ago and how different it was than what we know today. Dad and I had to get race packets for Thursday's Turkey Trot so we headed to Tacoma to grab them then  grabbed lunch at an old classic in Tacoma called The Hob Nob where Dad had the "best club sandwich he's ever had" and I had a super yummy chicken salad sandwich. Fun fact - my Grandmother (Dad's side) use to be a waitress many many moons ago! 

Wednesday night was filled with prepping, baking and organizing my dishes for Thanksgiving. I made pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dip, and prepped my Harvest Slaw (recipe to come) but here's a sneak peak. This salad is beautiful when all put together and the family loved it!

We then headed over to my parents so I could learn the secret to my Mom's delicious stuffing so I can take a stab at it next year! It was an early to bed night since Scott had to get up early for the annual Turkey Bowl and I had to do the same for our first annual Turkey Trot!

This was my Mom and Aunt Teresa's first 5k and although I think Jenni and I suckered them into it, they ended up loving it and we'll likely make this a yearly tradition! We talked the whole way and shared fun stories and memories, it was time I will cherish. Plus even though the forecast called for rain, we ended up having a beautiful sunny morning for the entire 3.1 miles, winding through North End Tacoma and constantly reminding me why one day I would LOVE to live in that area.

 

About 20 of my family members spend that afternoon eating yummy food, laughing, scoping out the Black Friday ads and last but not least, watching the Seahawks beat the Niners! My Aunts and my Mom made a wonderful dinner like they do every year, but next year I'm excited to have our generation take on the prep and cooking on Thanksgiving. Remind me that I said that a year from now!

Gunnar getting ready to eat!

Our annual Turkey Day "selfie"

Scott and I headed home about 8pm and I tried my best to go to sleep early since my alarm was set for 3:50am. Yep you read that write, 3:50 IN THE MORNING. I usually can't go on the Black Friday adventure my Aunts embark on every year, but the last couple I've got to tag along since I'm way too old for Christmas presents now!

The alarm went off as soon as my eyes closed (or so it seemed), so I pulled myself out of bed, got dressed and made myself as presentable as that time of the day can be then headed to pick up my Mom. We met my Aunt Karen, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Bob then hit the road for coffee and our first stop-- Fred Meyer. Why you may ask? Because every single year we hit their half priced sock sale and now with so many littles in the family, you can't beat their toy sales! My Aunts hit Freddy's hard and we ended up having to go unload after just one stop!

We stayed out shopping until 4pm, it was a LONG day but I had a blast and most of the other shoppers were in the holiday mood! I love going Black Friday shopping mostly to people watch and occasionally snag a deal or two, but I will never go out on Thanksgiving night or camp out for the $200 Best Buy T.V. For example this guy, was lined up at Best Buy when my Dad and I stopped in on Wednesday afternoon. Why on earth would you want to miss Thanksgiving with your family for a T.V.?

Thankfully between my Amazon addiction and Black Friday finds, Scott and I are only two gifts away from finishing our holiday shopping. I still have quite a few things to finish making but I'm so excited to be almost done and able to truly enjoy the season.

Friday evening and Saturday called for decorating the house. It's my tradition to get our tree up and all of my decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving and although our full day of shopping set me back a few hours I got it all done and the house cleaned early Sunday morning! I just love coming home to the decorations being out and we've already got presents under the tree!

Even Lucy loves all of our decorations!

My hubs helping me decorate the tree.

My Grandma LOVED Christmas and between her and my Mom I have grown to love it too! I still believe in "Santa" even if that just means I believe in the spirit of Christmas. Nearly 5 Christmases ago, before my Grandma passed away she wanted to make sure that her love of Christmas could live on through all of her Grandkids and their future children. She gave each of us an Elf on The Shelf and Santa's Magic Key. Finding those each year gives me a few second of sadness but even more cherished memories. I can't wait to make sure her spirit and love of the holidays continues!

Saturday night after finishing up a bit more shopping, we got to hang out with our nephew Gunnar for a few hours so we took him to Fantasy Lights. The three of us had a blast and Gunnar thought the lights were "super cool". He is talking so much lately and when you couple that plus his excitement over "Christmas lights" it makes for a pretty funny kid!

 

And these my friends are what happens when you get anxious waiting in line for the lights! The funny faces of TeeTee, Gunnar and Uncle Scott!

Checking out the tree!

Scott and I capped off the long weekend with his "famous hot cocoa" and enjoying the second installment of our Sunday Christmas Movie night by watching Love Actually. Love this new tradition of ours!

What did you do over the long weekend? Have you decorated yet? There's only 24 days left people!