Giving Thanks

Chris and I went to his parents' house in Savannah for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a full house!  Chris's brother, Ben, his wife, Daeon, and their two girls, Kaelyn and Alayna were there, along with Chris's mom's sister, Robin, her husband, Gregg, and their two daughters, Kelsey and Taylor.  Chris and I came in late Tuesday night, Ben and Daeon came in even later Wednesday night, and Robin and Gregg got there just in time for our Thanksgiving steak lunch on Thursday.  I baked two sweet potato pies, even though there were only a handful of sweet-potato-pie-eaters in the house.  I just couldn't have Thanksgiving without a slice.  Thursday night, all the girls went to the movie theater to see Breaking Dawn: part 1 (that was my second time to see it!).  We had a blast without all the boys there to bug us.

Precious Alayna in her pink elephant pajamas

So, I made these Christmas Tree shirts for the girls.  I spent pretty much all day Monday sewing them.  I put them in a Walmart bag for the drive so that I wouldn't get them dirty.  Unfortunately, Chris thought the bag was trash, so he dumped them in a garbage can at a gas station somewhere between Tuscaloosa and Savannah.  

On Friday, all the golfers headed out for 18 holes, while Daeon, Chris's dad, Dave, and I went to the jewelry store to buy Chris's mom, LuAnn's Christmas gift.  Everybody had a late lunch of Daeon's famous jalapeno cream cheese stuffed shrimp kabobs (except me and Chris, who don't eat shrimp).  Taylor has taken up crocheting, so she stayed busy making scarves and hats for everybody.  She was working on a gorgeous green scarf for me, but she didn't get it quite finished before they had to leave Friday night, so I am anxiously awaiting receiving mine in the mail!  

Beautiful Kaelyn in her princess pajamas

LuAnn's baby boy, Moose, who I am pretty sure stayed in this exact position for several minutes.  

On Saturday, Daeon, LuAnn and I went to a cooking demonstration at Kitchens on the Square, a little kitchen gadget store downtown.  Our instructor showed us how to make a delicious bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin dredged in brown sugar, which I cannot wait to recreate for Chris (post to follow).  She also made a flavored butter that was delicious--just add chopped, dried cranberries and orange zest to softened butter.  She stored it inside a butter bell, which is a container that keeps butter fresh for spreading.  For dessert, we had carrot cake twinkies with cream cheese filling!  Of course, everything she used in the demonstration you could buy in the store, and we got 10% off of our purchase.  None of us had ever heard of a butter bell, but we were so impressed that all three of us bought one.  I didn't buy the twinkie pan, even though I was tempted.  I decided it was not in the best interest of my waistline.  I did buy a microplane, a precious elephant-shaped cream pitcher, a butter bell, and a hilarious kitchen towel for mother that said: "Let's eat, drink, and bond over shattered holiday expectations."  We shopped a little more downtown, and then headed home to watch the Crimson Tide roll over the Tigers.  Disappointingly, we came home to cold, rainy weather on Sunday.

Atticus was so happy to see his Macy

All in all, it was a good trip.  We got lots of family time in, Macy got to hang out with her best buddy, Moose, the weather was wonderful, and we got plenty of play and cuddle time with Kaelyn and Alayna.  I even learned how to change a diaper!  I think Alayna's still trying to get over the emotional trauma of it.   For some of the highlights of the visit, check out Daeon's youtube video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq2svRAQcjI&feature=email   (skip to the end for my elephant act).  I absolutely love going to Savannah, but it never seems like we have enough time in the city!  Sometime in the near future, I'm going to make Chris take me just to see and do touristy things!

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