Turkey Day!

This Thanksgiving I left the Tuesday before to go home and visit the family! This made for a nice long 5 day vacation. I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and get a little shopping done which I thoroughly enjoyed! Wednesday got up and went for a morning run in the rain. Surprisingly I did a little over 3 miles. That afternoon I did some Christmas shopping with my dad. He helped me find some tools and stuff. For some reason he loved spending my money. J Later that evening my family met up with my dad’s younger brother, his family, and his wife’s sister’s family at Plaza Azteca. It was crazy how many people we got at one giant table. We had so much fun talking and enjoying our favorite Mexican Restaurant! My sister (Lindsey), bro-in-law (Wes) and I gave my mom a wii fit for her Birthday so we all had a little bit of fun playing with that. Then Thursday was another big family celebration but this time it was at my parents house. Mom made a turkey and a ham. I contributed rolls and a salad then everyone else brought a side dish or dessert. We had enough food to feed an army but that was good with all the family we had over. The crowd included my parents, Lindsey and Wes, Wes’ family, my aunt and uncle, cousin Josh and Jesse, cousin Ashley, Wayne, and Ethan. It was so much fun having everyone there an especially the babies…Ethan and Bella are the cutest! After everyone left there weren’t many leftovers which was probably a good thing since we were all stuffed! Later that evening my parents, Lindsey, Wes, and I played Mexican Train. I am sooooo PROUD to say that I won that game. We even went down the numbers and back up again. That is pretty impressive considering I was up against my Dad and Wes who usually win at games! After that we rented a movie from redbox. If you haven’t tried it you should…find a location at www.redbox.com. Movies are only a dollar per night and there are so many coupons out there you can usually get some free (we totally took advantage of that one). It is such a great deal! Luckily I got to sleep at a decent hour because we left the house around 4:50 for some crazy black Friday shopping…yes my crazy mom convinced us all to go! It was actually a really good experience. We got some great deals and didn’t spend much time in line. After a quick nap and some lunch I headed up to Busch Gardens to help Ashley sell my aunts jewelry at the Market. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her and seeing the lights but it was freezing cold. When I left I couldn’t feel my feet or hands…probably not a good thing. Saturday I spent the day mostly hanging out with my mom. Then we all went up to Busch Gardens to really experience the Christmas Town. We had a lot of fun seeing the lights and shows. My favorite was when my dad convensed me to ride the Griffin with him. It was dark, a little chilly, and from the top you could see all the lights in the park. It was so much fun. The only let downs were the train because it was too crowded to even get on and the Penguin Show. This 30 minute wait in line brought us to a showcase with 2 penguins in it yes that is all just two. Definitely a let down but it was still worth a fun night with the family. Sunday rolled around and we went to church and then my mom and I had lunch at TGI Fridays. After that I went through some storage items and then packed up to go home. I was not looking forward to this and for good reason. It took me over 5 hours to get home. Although it was a miserable drive back it was well worth the amazing time I had with my family the past few days!

To all…be thankful for all you have and continue to love those closest to you!