a lot to be thankful for: thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving was ah-maze-ing to say the least. I mean, isn't any day that you don't have to go to work a great day?! This was my first Thanksgiving as a married woman and Chris and I decided we were going to celebrate with my family. We have celebrated with his family the last two years, so my family it was!

One sucky thing about Thanksgiving: traffic. How do you avoid it? You leave Thanksgiving morning instead of Wednesday afternoon like every. other. person. in. America. We woke up early Thursday to make the four hour trip south and it was such a nice drive. Driving with this view reminded Chris and I we have SO MUCH to be thankful for.

We were in Austin (almost to my parent's house!) and this was the look Wrigley gave me.


"Seriously Mom, how much longer?!?!"

Once we got to my parent's it was full help-Mom-do-whatever-she-needs mode.

I had to make chocolate pie for Chris. Ok, here is the story on that. His Mawmaw makes him chocolate pie every year for Thanksgiving and it is his FAVORITE. He literally eats a whole one by himself. For an appetizer. Anyways, I wanted to make him one since we wouldn't be seeing his family this year. I got the recipe from Mawmaw and...ummm...I am embarrassed to say that it was terrible. It was runny and clumpy and (insert 1000 other words to describe a terribly made pie) I completely failed. I was so bummed. I think I will need another lesson from Mawmaw on how she makes her famous pie because mine was famously horrible.

Once I got over the fact that pies are not my expertise, I helped with whatever needed to be done. Finally, it was time to stuff-your-face-as-much-as-humanly-possible. Oh wait...this is my husband BEFORE we ate...



I guess the drive wore him out...

The below picture was the only picture I got because I was too busy...well, stuffing my face! Those dishes were my great-great grandfather's. I inherited them, but they are still living in my closet at my parents. Mom decided to whip them out for this special occasion. My clumsy self almost dropped them 10 times and just about gave everyone a heart-attack.

In attendance was Chris and I, my parents, brother, maternal grandparents, Granddad, my Aunt Susan, and her two kids, Erin and Austin. It was a great group!

This was the first Thanksgiving since my Meme's passing and I would be lying if I said it wasn't tough. The emotions hit me the night before we left. I couldn't sleep and for some reason all I could think about was Meme and how I so wish she was still here. I laid silently and a few tears fell until I drifted to sleep. Fast forward to Thursday on our drive down there. We were about 20 minutes from my parent's and I had a breakdown. Luckily I have the best husband ever and he reminded me to think of the good times and keep my spirits high.

Although Meme is no longer here, I am so blessed to have this man as my Granddad. Here is Sam, me, Granddad, Erin and Austin.



After we ate, there was a lot of this going on.

Yes, those are Buckee's boxers that I am wearing. Buckee's is the bomb. End of story. I changed after we ate due to the fact that my stomach grew 3x its normal size and my jeans were no longer comfortable. C'mon, everyone has that problem on Thanksgiving, right??

I got to spend a lot of time with this little angel.



Friday night my brother had a playoff football game. If you follow me on Instagram (sarahtuckerup) you saw that he won! Proud big sister right here. He is a senior this year, and quarterback of the football team, and I am so stinkin' proud of him. I hope they win this weekend so I can make it next week to cheer him on again!

After his game we had family game night with all the cousins. We stayed up until 3:30 AM playing Catch Phrase. THREE THIRTY IN THE MORNING. I don't know about y'all, but even in college I didn't stay up that late. It was so fun. My throat hurt the next morning because of the intense laughing that was happening the night before.

Saturday morning Chris and I headed back to Dallas. We are just so grateful to have had such a wonderful holiday.

Sunday was full Christmas mode. I can't wait to show y'all our decorations and all of my Christmas DIY projects!!

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

Have a great Monday :)