Give Thanks

The Austin Crew came up for Thanksgiving this year and reminded us how thankful we are for FAMILY! We had a great time and spent a lot of time:
1. Shopping - for food and Christmas gifts
2. Cooking - Self Explanatory
3. Eating - See above
4. Playing with two little boys
I'm at a point in my life where I can't decide if I prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas. I love how much less stressful Thanksgiving can be, and am a sucker for all the fall colors. However, I love the beauty of Christmas and getting to decorate gaudy and get away with it. I guess I'll just keep up tradition and keep celebrating both.
Thanksgiving was a crazy fun whirlwind, but we enjoyed it so much! Mom, Dad, Gigi and Mimi (plus two furry beagles), came up to Dallas this year for Thanksgiving.
We were up and at 'em early Thursday morning for a Belgian Waffle breakfast courtesy of Nana (thank you!), and to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"Too early."
"What are we doing up so early?" (It really was around 8AM, but it takes us awhile to get moving. We all needed our coffee)
All the cooks in the kitchen.

After we all had some sustenence in us to start cooking (a bit of an oxymoron), Dad and Ross headed outside to fry us some yummy turkeys (canjun and traditional).
Meanwhile, Gigi and I set about in the kitchen making dressing, sweet potatoe casserole, green beans, homemeade rolls (Gigi specialty), mashed potatoes, cranberry salad (Mimi specialty and the only way I eat cranberries), a pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread (shaped as a cornucopia), two chocolate cream pies and an apple pie.

The desert spread...heavenly!

Scott was super busy this year...
Just Kidding. He did a good job setting the table. This might be his permanent job.
Carving the turkey and stealing a bite. If you haven't had fried turkey, try it sometime. It is so good, just like fried chicken!

YUM OH YUM OH YUM! Everything was delish, and the company even better. It's amazing how many dishes we used, but it was worth it.

Patiently waiting for the prayer and dig in time!

Our sweet Mr. Jim and Mrs. Martha came over later for deserts and dishing. We always love seeing them and are so blessed they live nearby.

A little after dinner craft with one cute little Aggie and his Gigi.

And what's Thanksgiving without some serious playing in the leaves. And leaves we do have:

We certainly did Give Thanks for all the God has blessed us with!