So Very Thankful

Ahhh. My very favorite time of year is upon us. Thanksgiving is past, and Christmas is less than a month away. There's a bit of a chill in the air, and homes and businesses are all decked out in their holiday finery. Bliss.
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving week last week. For the first time, Elvis had the opportunity to work flex days over the summer so he could be home with us all week, and it was great. He'd been working like a dog lately, and was really looking forward to the rest. Friday AND Saturday night of last week, we took a handful of his theatre students to see shows in neighboring towns, so even though his work-week ended at 4 on Friday, he wasn't done with teacher duties until the wee hours of Sunday morning. That man works so hard for his family. We are so lucky.

After the late start to the vacation, we had a great week of doing almost nothing until Wednesday, when I spent the evening baking pies. The next morning the three of us trekked down to my parents' house this year and - for the first time ever - E's parents joined us there to celebrate. It was a really small T-giving for our family this year, but that was nice. Henry had a great audience all day, and had a blast showing off for his grandmas and great-grandma. What a little ham.

I spent most of Friday decorating our house, and it looks pretty good. I decided not to put up the big tree this year to avoid the constant shouting of "Henry, NO!" and I was a bit nervous about how our house would look sans tree. But, thanks to Pinterest, I was able to come up with some good, toddler-safe ideas. Yay!

Saturday morning we got up and snuck back to town to surprise my favorite aunt & uncle who had decided to make a surprise visit (that's right, we surprised the surprisers). We met up with my mom and Aunt Bunny at the mall, and I thought everyone was going to wet their pants with delight. Bunny hadn't seen Henry in a few months, and was sad to have missed him at Thanksgiving, so I think it made her weekend to get to snuggle with him for a few hours. Then on Saturday evening a friend of mine came over for some frolicking. She decided to stay for awhile, so we pulled out one of our homemade board games, and had a super time playing and giggling and eating pizza. It was a grand time, and I was sad when it was time for her to go home.

I could not have wished for a better week or a happier Thanksgiving day, and I'm so thankful for all my many blessings. A beautiful home; a loving husband; a healthy son; supportive friends & family scattered across the country; and a breathtaking homeland where the stars at night are big and bright, and - best of all - we can enjoy 'em in our t-shirts even at Thanksgiving.