A Bleak Thanksgiving..

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year.  Dan was able to work at home Tuesday and was off the rest of the week!  Our cousins/friends Nathan and Stephanie and their two boys were able to spend the holiday with us and we had so much fun catching up.

After getting the house all spiffed up for guests Wednesday morning, we headed out to our favorite park for a picnic and some play time in the beautiful weather.

Candy at the park (Nov. 23)

Sisters! (Nov. 23)

Look--I finally displayed my table runner and 4 placemats (a pattern I bought 2 years ago at the quilt show)--cute, huh?  And I was in charge of rolls for the big day (hence the flour everywhere) I worked on the rolls Wednesday afternoon while Dan picked up our guests (Nov. 23)

Mmm, love those crescent rolls (my mother-in-law's recipe)

After finishing the rolls, we packed up the kids and went out for some delicious bbq with Nathan and Stephanie.  We stayed up chatting and weren't sure if our friends would join us for the early morning parade (we needed to leave around 7:30 am).  But they did! My dad, little bro, big bro and his fam beat us there and saved some seats for us.  I always underestimate how cool it can be--and my kids were freezing and so happy to snuggle with cousins.  

Chloe and Megan...

Nathan and Stephanie and their boys (Henry and William) ALMOST liked the parade.  Except for the part where Henry threw up all over the car about halfway to downtown Houston.  Hence why he is sporting a fleece jacket on top (with nothing underneath) and an upside-down fleece jacket as pants.  Poor kid.  Poor Nate and Steph.  They were troopers though and stuck it out for the whole parade.   

 Megan was more than a little excited...

Candace and I...

Grandpa treated the kids to some cotton candy--Brooke's favorite part by far!

I didn't take any pictures of the feast itself, but here is proof that we had enough pie.  Nathan and Stephanie headed back to our house with sick Henry after our big meal at 1 pm (after another throw-up episode), but we stuck around with William and our kids and made sure to bring back some pie to share.  I made a key lime pie that was so amazing I plan to make it every year.  My dad's new neighbors (and ward members) also brought a key lime pie.  Theirs was very green and led to my favorite memory of the day.  The wife walked over to look at the pies and said, "Wow Honey, this pie is REALLY turning me on."  The rest of us exchanged a few glances and someone asked her what she said, so she repeated, "this pie--it's REALLY turning me on!".  We then were getting a little uncomfortable with this overshare when we realized that she was ACTUALLY saying that the pie had really turned NEON (as in neon green).  It took a minute to stop laughing long enough to tell her what we thought she was saying--she was pretty embarrassed but was a good sport.  Oh man, it was so funny.

Naps were taken in the afternoon--and with so many people at the house, my kids took them where they could get them!  Candy in the swing...

And Brookie on the couch...

We had a little turkey bowl on the lawn with all the kids after dinner.  They had a blast running around.

Dan's chin and Brooke...

My sweet Candy and I...

Nothing like a big meal, lots of pie, and running around to get you ready to veg out to a movie.  William, Brooke, and Megan...

We returned home at bedtime and enjoyed our second round of pie with Nathan and Stephanie. It was a great Thanksgiving!