Weekend Update: Thanksgiving Edition, Part 2

Here we are, a week after Thanksgiving, and I still haven't finished talking about Thanksgiving weekend!  And since I'm getting not one, but two snow days, I figured there is no excuse.  :)

After we bid adieu to Zach's family, we stopped by to visit our friend Jonathan and Jordan for a bit.  Then we drove to NLR and checked into our hotel.  Once we had grabbed dinner there, we headed over to my stepsister Kim's house to visit with her, my other stepsister Shelly (who was in town from Chicago), Kim's daughter Amie, and Amie's daughter Harper.  I didn't take any photos since it was so late, but here is a #throwbackThursday pic of (some of) my dad's side of the family:

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at our hotel and headed down to LoCo (Lonoke County) to Carlisle to visit with my best friend Monica, her fiancé Rob, and their little girl Autumn.  Rob's two kids, Lauryn and Caleb, were also there!

I didn't get to attend Autumn's birthday party because I had to work, so we brought her present (literary and artistic board books) and visited a bit.  We ended up doing an impromptu photo shoot, and I got some pretty decent shots of this growing little family!

Lauryn declared that Jane Eyre is scary.  *lol*  That's your Auntie "Lorelai" for ya, Autumn!

I love this one on the right!

sweet growing family

Awww, I just love these folks!

After Monica's, we headed back up the road to Lonoke to see my mama, Matt (one of my brothers), and Will (my nephew).  I didn't take many photos because my mom's hip was bothering her, and she felt horrible, and my brother isn't much on having is picture taken anyway.  But here are two photos:

I'm praying that Mama feels much better very soon and that we will get more photos in next time.  Then we were on the road home.  We stopped in Morrilton, where we saw the most beautiful sky:

Isn't it spectacular?!

Well, that is our Thanksgiving weekend, minus Sunday.  But I'll try to talk about that tomorrow because that's when we decorated for Christmas.  :)

Weekend Update: Thanksgiving Edition, Part 1

Last time you saw me, I was enjoying some raspberry pancakes the last full weekend in November, and here we are in December!  CHRISTMAS SEASON.  Oh, tidings of joy to you.  :)

What have been up to since then?  Well, on Tuesday, I made this awesome apple pie:

(Yes, it was as delicious as it looks.  And that is a leaf, not a tree cut-out.)

Because I was exhausted Tuesday night, I got up super early on Wednesday to make baked beans, only to find my onion was spoiled.  So I took Zach to work, grabbed another onion, and spent a few hours at home.  Then I went in for three hours before the college closed early!  Score!

We headed home, loaded up the car with our stuff and "Pancake," and headed down to central Arkansas.

"Pancake" was such a good little pilgrim!  She sat in my lap the whole way, purring and purring.

Thursday meant Thanksgiving, and here are a few many photos from the day:

This is what happens when the photog and back-up photog are in the picture...and your back-up back-up just had shoulder surgery--iPhone photo!

That cranberry JELL-O sauce in the middle is one of my favorites of my mother-in-law's!

our nephew Sayer some of the peeps

husby ready for a nap

Sayer decorated the tree, but it took five people to hang the star!

my mother-in-law pretending to be the Statue of Liberty :)

the finished product later that evening

Sayer and Momo who is NOT happy about her too short haircut

silly Sayer

some of the animals from the weekend (Phoebe, Sasha, and "Pancake")

Pancake went to her new home Thanksgiving night, but unfortunately, she escaped out the door the next day!  I am clinging to these verses (Matthew 6:25-34).  Pray that she found a better home and is not in the cold--hungry, afraid, and missing us.  We just cried when we heard.

I did a little shopping on Black Friday by myself.  I didn't get out until 11, but I still got everything I wanted and more!  I hit up JCP, Children's Place, Old Navy, and Michael's (and Walmart--but not for BF shopping).  The crowds weren't too bad except at Old Navy, where I waited 30+ minutes to check out, BUT I got a coupon for having a pence in my pocket.  :)  (They were doing a scavenger hunt-type thing.)

Friday evening, we headed to NLR, but I will have to post about our adventures there tomorrow.

What did you do this Thanksgiving?