Giving Thanks

We had a lovely Thanksgiving last week.  The best thing was that daddy got to stay home for five days!  That meant lots of great, quality family time.  It was the first true holiday since we became a family of five.  I can say that being a family of five makes everything more intense; the hard times are harder, and the good times are even better.  Even with both parents home, the five days seemed long and arduous.  But we did manage to squeeze in some fun as a family.

Thanksgiving dinner took place at my parents' house, with both sets of grandparents.  We were also joined by a distant cousin, Betty Jo,  who actually lives just down the street from us.  We had planned to smoke a duck, but ultimately decided to do seared duck breasts with a port-cherry sauce.  Amma made mushroom soup, brussels sprouts, and a delicious cranberry sauce.  Granmom made cornbread stuffing, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie.  The boys had so much fun riding their scooters around the house, which really put some good energy and excitement into the evening.  There was always the possibility of an impending crash.  Never boring with three boys!

After Thanksgiving we put the tree up and began to enjoy some holiday traditions.  The boys wanted their hot chocolate, and we also guzzled some egg nog while decorating the tree.  Sawyer saw the Christmas tree for the first time.  I am pretty sure he thought it was beautiful!  Evan really got into decorating the tree, and Lance and I had very little work to do hanging the ornaments.  However, I did have to go back and put a few closer to the top of the tree.