Extra Thankful

  Have I mentioned lately how much of a sweet gem/ wonderful prince Michael is? This year we volunteered to host Thanksgiving at our house since Michael built that stupendous dining room table that looks like we bought it for $2,000. It is made to hold eight people, but we fit nine with me and Abby sharing the end with our white plates that did not match everyone else's red and black plates. But I like stuff like that. Hence all the bowls I buy being different colors, shapes, and designs. Options are fun!

  Michael prepped all the food on Wednesday, (green bean casserole, hash brown casserole, stuffing) the night before Thanksgiving. We picked up the turkey Wednesday morning from Publix (it was "fully cooked", but still had to be cooked for 2 hours the next day.. um??) I vacuumed, cleaned the guest bathroom, and did laundry with all the sheets for the blow up mattress where Greg would sleep in Chip's room. In the evening Michael installed a white fan with light in there too. Then when I didn't feel good around 9:30pm, Michael drove to the airport by himself to pick up Greg and Abby (my cousins) while I slept the night away. He said he didn't mind. Such a sweetie, but I felt bad that I wasn't feeling good enough to go with him. 

  The next day, my parents drove down with Aunt Sue Ann, Uncle Tim, and Grandpa, arriving at Noon. Shortly after, Michael began cooking everything and we had our big meal around 3pm, followed by pie! Mommy brought her delicious sweet potato soufflé and mashed potatoes. I really liked the stuffing Michael made- from scratch! No cheaty mixes for my man! Later we realized we forgot to cook the rolls and serve the cranberries. We took some family pictures before it got dark and everyone left around 5:30. They celebrated Peyton's 2nd birthday last night. 

  Fun fact: the last time I blogged about Thanksgiving was also with our Indiana family, in 2012. In 2013 we had Thanksgiving in Birmingham since we were there for a week after moving back from California. I assume the two previous years were also spent in Gainesville. Also Uncle Tim decided Chip's real (birth) name should be Tinman.