Thanksgiving

We stayed home for Thanksgiving this year. We told all of our family that we would travel to North Carolina for Christmas, but otherwise just sent out an invite to everyone to join us at our house for Thanksgiving. My parents, Jarrett's mom, Stephen, Jonathan, and Jonathan's wife, Michelle, were all able to join us, and we had a wonderful time. With the added space at our new house, it never once felt crowded, even though we were overflowing the bedrooms. And cooking the big meal in the new kitchen went smoothly and was a lot of fun (thanks to my mom's and Jane's help!).

Dinner was yummy (and apparently the turkey was laugh-inducing).

We did a little shopping on Black Friday (mainly at REI), and then the grandparents and myself took the girls to ride the Pink Pig. It was Avie's first time on the ride, and she was completely mesmerized, signing for "more" at the end.

And for a little background on the last part of this recap, all the children in Miss Gabriela's playgroup make paper lanterns every year, and then every November there is a lantern walk one evening. We missed the lantern walk this year because we were at Tim and Kate's house, and Elsa was very disappointed. However, when I suggested we go on our own lantern walk that Friday evening, she was absolutely thrilled.