Thanksgiving Day-2015

We got back from Grandpa E's house late Monday night.  It had been a wonderful trip, but it sure was nice to be home. We didn't do much at all Tuesday except clean the house, rest, relax, and watch movies. Wednesday we woke up and my mini-me made us a To Do list for the day. We were hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year so we had a lot to do before turkey day. 

We ran errands around town, came home, and decided to take Barkley for a bike ride. While we were riding around our neighborhood I spotted some pinecones and thought of a craft Eli and I could do for our Thanksgiving table. We didn't have a bag or anything so we made great use of our hoodies :) We each took turns loading pinecones into the other's hoodie. We looked silly riding down the street with pinecones stuffed in our hoods, but they all made it back to our house safe and sound!

Our craft was super easy to make! We used different scrapbook paper that I just had leftover from other projects and used that to make the feathers. Eli cut out the beaks and the snood from some construction paper. I also found a pack of unopened googly eyes I had never used. Then I hot glued everything onto the pinecone to make it look like a turkey. Eli wrote everyone's name on a card and we glued that to the pinecone as well. In about 30 minutes, we had personalized turkey place cards for our Thanksgiving table. I thought they were the cutest turkeys ever!

Josh and I have been married for 14 years and in that time we have NEVER used our fine china that we received as wedding gifts. I decided that I was going to use it for our Thanksgiving dinner and had such fun setting the table with our beautiful china. It really made the day extra special :)

Our family arrived bearing lots of food. It was so much yummy goodness! I wish I had taken a picture of our entire feast because there was so much. Our garden produced such an abundant harvest this year and we were able to use lots of our vegetables for casseroles and side dishes for our Thanksgiving meal. We were all so very thankful for God's blessings this day! 

Zue-Zue and Finley

A lot of Josh's cousins couldn't come to Thanksgiving lunch but they stopped by later that afternoon for coffee and dessert. Oh, the desserts! We had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, caramel apple pie, cake, and much more. Everything was so good! We had a great time visiting and catching up with all of Josh's side of the family. I love it when we all get together. 

Jordan, Josh, Jessie

Eli and Grant (Jessie's son) had the BEST time together. They're 18 months apart and they play so well together. I wish Jessie, Will, and Grant lived closer because these two would play together every single day. Eli really missed Grant when he had to go back home. 

Will, Jim, Josh

Reggie and Grace Ann

Jessie and Will

Mamaw and Grant

Once again I found myself surrounded by a multitude of blessings on Thanksgiving Day. I was overwhelmed with God's grace and so thankful for each and every blessing in my life. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and I am so glad I was able to spend it with the ones I love! I hope your Thanksgiving was full of love as well!

Thanksgiving in Texas-Wilson Thanksgiving Meal

The next day we started out by going to Krispy Kreme. Eli and I were quite fascinated by the donut making process and watched the assembly line for a long time. It was the perfect way to start our day. After Krispy Kreme we picked up Grandpa E and headed to Cabela's so Eli could pick out his birthday present from E. After looking around the entire store Eli decided on a bow. He tested it out in the store and was in love. He couldn't wait to get home to practice. 

 

I dropped the boys off at Grandpa E's house and then I headed to the store to get food for our Thanksgiving meal the next day. I found a little slice of heaven when I went to the freezer section. Most of you know about the Blue Bell famine of 2015 and this was the first time for me to see Blue Bell in stores in months. I was just a tad excited!! I showed great control and only bought one half gallon of homemade vanilla. I didn't know when I would see Blue Bell again so I made sure to document this very important historical day. 

The next morning I started cooking all the sides (Josh's dad ordered a Honeybaked Ham for the main dish) for our Thanksgiving meal while the boys went outside to watch Eli practice shooting his bow. After a few practice shots, he had it and was hitting his target every single time. 

My little turkey hunter :)

Josh's brother Ian and his family came over around lunch time and I forced everyone to take family pictures before I would serve food. Hey, when you are part of a family who hates pictures desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Ian and his daughter Sophie

The Wilson men

Ian, Tasha, and Sophie

The Wilson Family

We ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal and then went to the park for the kids to burn off some energy. 

We spent the rest of our Thanksgiving day sitting around the fire pit talking and hanging out together. It was great to catch up with Ian, Tasha, and Sophie. The next morning we had to come back home but before we left I squeezed in a quick ten mile run at a local park. The St. Jude half-marathon was quickly approaching and I knew I needed to put in the run time. The park I went to was so beautiful. Even though it was very chilly in the beginning it quickly warmed up and ended up being a great day for a run. 

We said good-bye to Grandpa E and to Texas and headed back home. It was a great visit and I can't wait until we can see him again! 

Thanksgiving in Texas-Legoland Discovery Center

This year for Thanksgiving we started our week long break a little early and went to visit Grandpa E in Texas. We wanted to spend some time with him and with Josh's brother's family before Thanksgiving. We left Thursday after school and got there late that night. Friday morning we woke up and after a yummy breakfast at Waffle House we decided to take Eli to the Legoland Discovery Center. 

We bought our tickets and waited around for a few minutes before they let us in the doors. Eli was very excited to go. He is very much into Legos these days.

I think if Eli had to name which part was his favorite he would probably say building the Lego cars and getting to race them. I tried not to think about how many germy hands had touched these exact Legos. Let's just say that Eli washed his hands REALLY WELL when we left that day!

Eli raced cars, went through the Ninjago laser game to test his Ninja skills, played on the playground, and rode on the Lego laser gun ride twice. We certainly made the most of our time there! 

I thought the mini mock-ups of famous spots around the Dallas area were pretty neat looking. 

We watched a short 3D Lego movie featuring the Lego hero Clutch Powers, rode the laser ride one more time, and then left the Lego Center. My overall review would be that it was just okay. Eli had fun, but the price you pay for the experience you get wasn't that great in my opinion. Hopefully one day, we'll be able to go to the real Legoland and experience that!

We left the fun center and went to the Lego store so Eli could pick out a souvenir. He decided to build his own Lego man from the video we watched before going into the Discovery Center.

Our visit to see Grandpa E was off to a great start!