Thanksgiving Fun

Thank goodness all our terrible house drama happened around Thanksgiving because it helped me refocus on the good and I got to avoid thinking about the bad.  It was hard one day though because one of the squirrels must have died several days ago and a terrible rotting smell filled our room for a few days.  Paul found it but couldn't reach it and the squirrel removal company we are working with couldn't come out until Monday.  It was pretty disgusting, but at least we are now 2 squirrels down and hopefully just a few more to go! 

Thankfully our guest room smelled fine.  We were so lucky to have my cousin Becca and her husband Ben join us for Thanksgiving this year.  We went out to their house last year and they made an even longer drive to be with us this year.  I started cooking on Wednesday and made: pecan squares, cheesecake, grape salad, and attempted a pumpkin pie but needed Becca's expertise to finish up the job (for some reason, even with her help my flour, oven, or who knows what, was not helping out our pie crust at all).  That night we made my grandma's amazing rolls as well. 

 Hayden had so much fun helping me measure, stir and cook (I can never get her to look at the camera)

This was our 1st Thanksgiving at our own home and thus our 1st ever turkey.  So that night we also started by applying the brine to our turkey.  I got a recipe out of The Food Network Magazine and it worked great.  I was so impressed with Paul and his ability to deal with the rawness of the turkey.

 Becca also got in on the action and tried to help Paul pull out the necessary things.  Even so, we found the giblets still inside the next day after cooking :(

Thanksgiving morning we made some quick breakfast burritos and then got cooking the rest of the food.  Our menu included: green bean casserole, carrot souffle, mashed potatoes, wild rice with almonds, stuffing and the turkey of course.  

This is a table cloth Paul brought back from his mission from Paraguay and the fist time we have used it.  Also I finally found a reason to pull out my china and stemware!

Paul had had enough of the turkey, so Ben cut the rest of the meat up for us after dinner.

That night we headed out for my 1st year of black Friday shopping.  I think I am hooked, I got way to many good deals.  Wish I had some pictures of the fun night out.  We shopped a bit more Friday morning and took it easy the rest of the day.  We played our favorite game with Ben and Becca, Speed Scrabble.  I am definitely the worste at this game but I still always have fun.  

Saturday we went out to the city and went to Little 5 points and the Olympic Park.  Hayden had some melt downs, but was in heaven once we got to the park.  Ben and Becca were kind enough to take pictures of Hayden while she played.  They are amazing photographers so I'll post some of our favorites sometime soon.  Hayden was pretty obsessed with Becca for most of their trip and loved petting Ben's arms for some reason.  She even called Ben Becca most of the time. 

After our fun times Saturday we picked my college roommate up at the airport.  Ben and Becca headed Sunday morning and Jenny Willis got to stay with us until late Monday night.  I had such an amazing time catching up with her.  The last time we saw each other was when I was pregnant!  For most of the time we simply talked.  But we did manage to go to an awsome spin class and she treated Hayden and I to lunch at Panera as well. 

I think for as long as I can remember we have done a close up picture each time we visit one another.  Jenny is the only person who will ever understand my Occidental College experiences and for that we are definitely bonded for life!