Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is tied for my favorite holiday and this year lived up to its expectations yet again.

I took Wednesday off, picked up my sister at the airport, then we were off to the mountains to spend Thanksgiving with the family! My mom and dad were already at the house and we spent the rest of the day chatting and doing some Thanksgiving day prep.

My mom had purchased a spaghetti casserole to keep us from dirtying up the whole kitchen trying to cook dinner. The 4 of us hadn't had a meal together since May! We enjoyed some wine, Dad built a nice fire, and we all fell asleep early with happy thoughts!

I woke up early Thanksgiving morning and was ready to get cooking! Dad was already up with the coffee brewing, and I started prepping my corn casserole which I also made for the Friendsgiving! We were all taking our time getting ready, until my aunt and uncle called and said they'd be there by 11 am! We kicked it into high gear but were still running around the kitchen when everyone arrived.

My cousin, his wife, their two children, and my cousin's wife's sister showed up shortly after my aunt and uncle, but we were still waiting on my other cousin Matt to make the drive from Greenville. We had a full house with 10 adults and 2 kids! I know that's not as many as most families have at Thanksgiving, but we still had to pull the table inside from the porch to fit everyone!

We sat down to eat about 12:30 or 1 pm and of course went back for seconds! The food was all so delicious, and I was surprised I wasn't sick of it by then since it was my third Thanksgiving meal!

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching my little cousin throw the football around, flipping the TV between football and the James Bond marathon (Thanksgiving tradition), and catching up with family we don't get to see too often. We finally managed to pull ourselves off the couch and head out for a walk around the neighborhood, which was refreshing after all that tryptophan!

My cousin, his wife, and the kiddies headed home but my aunt and uncle stayed with us in the mountains for a night!

 

We lounged on the couch, watched football, and went to bed early! Thanksgiving 2012 was a successful one!

 

On Friday, we bundled up and headed out to cut down our Christmas tree! This was a new tradition for our family and one I can't wait to repeat in the future. It was so fun walking around the farm before we picked the one we wanted to cut down. My sister and I couldn't help but laugh while reenacting all the scenes from "Christmas Vacation," our favorite Christmas movie!

 

The "One"

We decided to go to the first annual "tree lighting" on the square in Cashiers on Friday night, and were surprised at the turnout! There was cider, smores, and a little orchestra. It was a cute start to the Christmas season.

 

 

 

 

Saturday was the Clemson/USC rivalry game, so my sister and I spent the day tailgating and then headed to the game to watch us lose freeze our tails off.

 

 

 

 

Still proud each and every day to be a Clemson Tiger!

 

And that's how I spent my Thanksgiving holiday! I hope everyone had a great time with their families as well, and are gearing up for Christmas!

 

I promise I'll get caught up on my blog posts eventually...Ryan and I just returned from our anniversary trip in Kentucky, which I can't wait to share with y'all!

 

Until then!