Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving lunch was at our house and we had lots of guests! Jen, Alexandra and Robert; Carrie, Chris, and Pearce; Helen, Mom and Dad, and Grandma...oh and Otis too (Daisy was at doggie daycare enjoying her own turkey lunch). Getting all of the food prepared could be stressful, but everyone pitched in. Helen brought a broccoli salad (my favorite) and a corn casserole. Mom brought the stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and pies, and Carrie helped me make the mashed potatoes (which we did the night before and they were still great heated up the next day! That was a huge time saver!) And I roasted a 20 lb turkey! I always worry that I'm going to screw up the staple of thanksgiving, but I never do! It was great. I was thankful that I thought enough ahead of time about how long it would take to defrost a 20 lb bird. I thought of that Sunday night, Butterball.com said 4 days, so I rushed right out and got one. It's a good thing I got it Sunday night! The one thing that frazzled me a bit was that I estimated that the turkey would take 4 hours to cook...it was done in 3! So I'll remember that for next year. Charlotte was Auntie Carrie's helper when it came to setting the table. And Nathan was Pearce's entertainment. It is the funniest thing to see Nathan and Charlotte with Pearce. They are partly silly with him and partly grown up. They try to be little parents. And Pearce just adores them! He laughs and laughs at both of them...well, more so at Nathan. Charlotte has to work a little harder. Pretty soon, they've turned it into a competition on who can make Pearce laugh more.

Nathan was also so excited to see Robert and Alexandra. They got here late Tuesday night, so I told Nathan that he would see them Wednesday around lunch time. Mama and Jen were going to pick up Nathan and take him and Robert to the Perot Museum. Alexandra and Charlotte were going to stay here with me and hang out while waiting on Chris and Carrie. So Nathan woke up bright and early Wednesday morning. He asked me over and over if they were here yet. After fixing him breakfast, I reminded him that they were going to get here right after lunch. I told him that since he woke up so early, it's going to seem like a long time. 10 minutes after eating his breakfast, he rubbed his stomach and said, "Man, I'm hungry. I think I'm ready for lunch." My sweet boy thought if he went ahead and ate lunch, they'd be here! So funny!

I have also put off my Christmas card pictures way too long! So Carrie helped me take a few pics of Nathan and Charlotte that turned out really cute. Nathan was quite the poser. They both did such a good job until Nathan tried a new pose on the rock wall and fell off into the mud, and that was the end of that. Luckily, I got some cute ones.