This year, our family Thanksgiving was here in Atlanta! My parents and my brother and his family all drove up from Orlando area to celebrate along with the rest of my dad’s side of the family. It was really nice to have everyone here. My parents slept in our den, and AJ, Molly, and Drew took the guest room. It was the first time having someone stay in our den and it worked pretty well! There is a half bath down there, so a bit more privacy instead of having to share the upstairs bath with everyone (though the only shower is upstairs). However, there is no door at the top of the steps so we had to be careful with noises and light.

We had Thanksgiving meal at my uncle’s clubhouse, and really enjoyed our time. All my dad’s 4 siblings were there along with their spouses, and 7 of the 10 grandkids were there, along with the spouses and kids of the ones who had them. All total, there were 4 great-grandkids! My grandparents (who passed away about 10 years ago) would have loved it.

Our family was well represented – just missing my sister Amy who was unable to make it. We all missed her and definitely felt the void of her not being there. :-(

My cousin’s daughter is just 5 months older than Savannah, and the two of them had a blast playing together. It was so cute! I snapped this picture of them watching some dogs who were down below. Look at how long Savannah’s hair is now!

We didn’t get a family picture because Savannah was not cooperating, but here are my parents and my brother’s family:

(Isn’t Drew adorable?? He’s 6 months old now!)

And Paul and Savannah…

You can see all the pictures on my Flickr album here.

Everyone left this morning, and Paul had to work the second shift today. I have been alternating between enjoying the quiet of just Savannah and I, and thinking it’s TOO quiet.

And since Thanksgiving has passed, I am so excited to be officially in the Christmas season! Wow, it seems to have snuck up on me this year! I feel like I try my hardest to ignore it the first part of November that it’s hard for me to just flip the switch the day after Thanksgiving. We did watch “Miracle on 34th Street” yesterday evening, as is our family (Paul and my family) tradition. I went to pull the decorations out, but it was buried and I decided I’ll wait until tomorrow when Paul is around to help me. I did turn on the Christmas music, and Savannah and I danced to it around the den. (I think she’s enjoying the room actually clean and having room to run down there!)

Oh and I did a bit of Black Friday shopping! And since I am a mother of a young one and I value my sleep (heh), I did my shopping online. We have been talking about getting break resistant dishes, and putting the heavy stoneware up for while we have little kids. I love our dishes, and prefer not to see them chipped and shattered! I don’t want to eat off plastic for the next few years, and I want Savannah to be able to help with carrying the dishes around. So I checked out Corelle’s website and found a set of dishes that are similar colors to our current Pfaltzgraff stoneware. And, the sales were great! I was able to get 12 each of dinner plates, lunch plates, and bowls for a little under $60 – it was more than $125 if I’d bought the same at retail price! I am excited.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!