A Thanksgiving Break

 I am taking a small break from my mental illness series to record my most wonderful weekend with the family of my dreams :-).

We spend Christmas together every other year. Sometimes, on the off year, we are fortunate enough to get together for Thanksgiving.  When we do, we do, "Thanksmas" and have a mini celebration to exchange our Christmas gifts.

To kick off the long weekend, Anna made this absolutely TDF gluten free muffins. Because my sister-in-law and niece are both gluten-free as well, my family does a lot of GF cooking when we are all together and it's heavenly.

Thursday

Our appetizer, made by ALH

We introduced Shana to "White Christmas!" Love, love, love this movie.

We began a tally of how many times Anna gets called Christina and vise versa.  Right now, it's about 16 for Anna and 4 for Tina. Poor Annie Buddah. I'm one of the WORST offenders.

It's the family joke (except it's rue) that I am in charge of setting the table whenever we all get together.  I used to hate cooking and would rather do anything else. I actually like it much better now, but setting the table is still my special job.

Ella helped me make place-cards.

Scotty borrowed cousin Keiana's rain boots.

Just missing Daddat!

One of the best parts of the meal was gravy made from the turkey drippings and thickened with corn starch to keep it GF.

They had one job...

It was so fun that Keiana could join us! Don't she and Anna look alike?

The two that made it all possible...

Aw...

I know you probably think I'm biased, but there isn't a sweeter brother in the world...

We opened our traditional holiday crackers with crowns, jokes, and prizes inside. We Houstons just love those crowns.

Sweet photo bomb, cuz.

Cutie Mommy!

Watching this masterpiece is our yearly holiday tradition. I can basically guarantee we are the only family in the world with this tradition, as there are few people who even know this movie exists. But we can all quote most of it.  "I love you Snowball. I love you very, very much!"

I love this sweet little girl so much.

Still lovebirds :-).

Anna got in touch with the Julia Child within this vacation, as per usual. 

One of Ella's favorite thing to do is play animal.  So far, she has been a puppy, horsey, kitty, frog...and I probably missed several.  It is the cutest thing. I don't think I've ever met a child that loves animals as much as she does!

Love!

Friday:

We took the kids to my grandfather's farm to visit the animals.  As you may have guessed, this was especially a treat for Miss. Ella!

 

Too bright!

Anna, Joe and I spent a good part of the day making this Christmas craft out of scrapbook paper, thanks to American Crafts where my brother-in-law works.  We are going to use them to hold holiday treats!

We were particularly moved by the outfit Christina wore home that night. Short cowgirl boots, oversized purple workout pants, an orange sweater, green scarf, and a leather jacket.  That's what happens when you borrow PJ pants and don't want to change, but only have the shoes for your other outfit.  Work it. 

Saturday:

We started a new tradition out of an old tradition.  When we were little, my parents would take us to the mall for Family Home Evening so we could all buy our Christmas presents for each other. We would go off in pairs or trios and then meet back at a designated time and place to switch groups until all the presents were purchased.  I got a little intense this year and made instructions, along with gift ideas, for each person to have as they went shopping. It was a lot of fun!

We had a family meeting on my parents' bed before the swap to explain the rules.  Okay, so it's glaringly obvious that I'm a teacher.

Rather than going to the mall, we decided the best spot was the area my sister calls the "trifecta."  Old Navy, TJ Maxx, and Ross. It was perfect. We had many options for every person.

Scotty was a doll during our shopping adventures.  His latest thing is to have full blown conversations in baby talk.  It is the funniest thing! His little personality is coming out in full force.

Before the gift swap, we enjoyed enchiladas made by--you guessed it--the lovely Anna.

After dinner, we all wrote things we were grateful for on little pieces of paper and took turns reading them out loud.

For our gift swap, we decided not to draw names. Instead, we had a $5 limit per person. If we wanted to go in on something together, we could pool our $5 together.  This did not include grandkids, who received all kinds of presents, all outside of the budget :-).  Needless to say, we had a ton of presents to open that evening!

This little one was excited to get started!

Stud earrings!

These baseball slippers from Aunt Shana and Uncle Joe were a RIOT.

Ella looked at herself with a smile in her new outfit and boots and said, "Why do I look like that?!"

Three of us went in on Jer's $15 basketball :-).

Ella was STOKED about her advent calendar from Granna!

At the risk of "tooting our own horn", Jer and I nailed it with the present we went in on together for my brother.

When he was a teenager, my brother learned how to do all kinds of amazing things with his yo-yo.  He started playing with the one we gave him and he hadn't lost his touch!

Mini grinder salt and paper shakers for Shana...

Butter dish for Granna!

We all went in on new slippers for my dad (the kind you can wear both inside and out!). The ones I got him from Brazil wore completely out this month.  They had a good 7 1/2 year run!

All my siblings and in-laws pooled their $5 together to get me tights and boots, both things I desperately wanted!

A lovely candle from her husband!

Aunt Anna knows exactly what kind of gifts to get her niece! Check out the cat ears and the bow!  Every time Ella opened a new present, she either put it on or carried it around with her.  It was darling.  By the end, of the evening, she ran out of hands!

Papa found an old kids saddle online as a surprise for Ella.  They will take it back to the farm to ride the horse!  She enjoyed riding it on Papa's knee for quite awhile :-).

Luckily, we all have one more day together!