Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving was an incredible holiday for us.  Tuesday evening, my parents flew in for 5 days of fun and Brylee getting spoiled again...we are still working on the despoilification...

Of course, against mom's wishes for her Thanksgiving fun, Mother Nature had a big forecast of snow for Wednesday, predicted to start at midnight Wednesday morning...which we noticed as we drove into town after picking them up from the bus station in Portland...only to wake up to several inches of snow.  Time to break in Brylee's new sled from her Uncle UB, Aunt Uffie, and Cousin Helen!

I love how she manages to always be in stripes, polka dots, and plaid at the same time. Only this girl can work it, too!

Wednesday was spent baking cookies (M&M and No Bake!), while Poppy entertained Brylee (and taste-tested the cookies), and Cary built a long-awaited fort outside:

 

 

After baking the cookies, we decided to head out to deliver cookies to people in the town (the ladies at the hair salon and the vet--who ended up being closed...so I got to enjoy their cookies!), and went to Beth's for lunch, where we teased poor mom endlessly about her ordering pizza.  Pretty much went like this:

Mom:  is their pizza good?
Me:  yes, very
(She started ordering a turkey sandwich, and when I got onto her)
Mom:  well, I didn't want to take up too much room in the refrigerator with the leftovers
Me:  there's plenty of room.  Get what you want
(She ordered the pizza.  Everyone else ordered turkey sandwiches.
While waiting for the food, we said that it was her pizza that was taking too long.  When we finally got lunch, we were eating, and I commented on how good her pizza was)
Me:  I almost got pizza, too, except we didn't have room in the fridge for the leftovers.

Poor mom...

And after lunch, we headed home for Brylee to grab a nap while dad, Cary, and I went out to do a little geocaching.
Think we can find the cache in this snowy mess?  You bet!  (Ahem...I had found it before...sans snow, so it was up to Cary and me to help dad find it)

We went through town so that dad could find the R.A.T.S series that Chestmutt had hidden, and my favorite moment was R.A.T.S #1.  We placed the cache in the parking lot that was the home of our favorite restaurant in town, which has since closed down (boo!).  The parking lot had not been plowed, for obvious reasons, so we trekked through it, which went up to my knees.  But dad also managed to find a gathering of snow that went up to his knees...

I also took the opportunity to make my first snow angel of the year in the once untouched snowy parking lot.  Those are always so much fun!!!!

Once we got home, Cary took the opportunity to fix up his fort a bit more, and I got to get a picture of it from the patio above.  I think it is awesome for a first fort!

 

 Thursday morning started the turkey cooking and last minute preparations.  Mom helped flavor the turkey (Cajun!!!) and helped prepare the Deviled Eggs, and eventually the Broccoli Rice Casserole (my favorite!!!!)

Our harvest for the day:  Cajun turkey, Dressing (made lovingly by my in-laws!), Cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, broccoli rice casserole, dinner rolls, mashed sweet potatoes, and fruit salad.

And let's not forget the desserts!  Blueberry, Chocolate, and Pecan pies, and of course, the cookies!

The after-the-meal workout for the grandparents.  Brylee was in HEAVEN having all of them around!

The evening was complete with the Cowboy game, more fort-fun, and just a lot of snacking and resting...enjoying everyone's company.

Friday brought a gorgeous day, so Cary decided to take my parents out to the Portland Light Head.  They had been here once before, but it was rainy and freezing, so it was a quick trip then.  This day was perfect.  The sky was blue, a hint of chill in the air...just enough to put on the jackets in the morning and shed them later in the day.  We even got a chance to visit the museum, and Cary and dad got to do more geocaching

Saturday:  more to come.  Just enjoy the miscellaneous pictures here!

And Sunday brought us a teary (me) goodbye.  I really hate saying goodbye to my parents.  Such incredible people, and Brylee adores them so...makes it harder to say goodbye.  But from the time we dropped them off at the bus station to the next time we get to see them:  22 days.  Yay!