Thanksgiving Weekend 2012

This year, Thanksgiving startled me when it unexpectedly snuck up and pounced on me. Geez, where has November gone? Well, ready or not, I embraced Thanksgiving and did my best to savor all of its activities.

Wednesday, November 21st

After work, Dan and I headed up to Wisconsin with Jetta. Jetta does much better in the car when Dan holds her -- or so it seems. So I did all the driving this weekend. It was easier this way.

When we arrived at Dan's parent's home, no one was there (which we already knew). Dan got right to work baking his sharp cheddar apple pie -- Jetta and I supervised. To get into the Thanksgiving mood, we turned on A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and watched it from the kitchen.

Later that evening, Jetta got to meet her cousin, Jake. Jake (pit bull/lab mix, also a rescue dog) belongs to Dan's sister (Stefanie) and her husband (Thomas). He was so good with Jetta! While the two couldn't do too much to play together, Jetta really enjoyed pestering Jake -- trying to get him to chase her. Jake knew he had to be gentle with Jetta and he never even opened his mouth when she was around. At one point he even brought his ball and dropped in front of Jetta as if to say, "Here, you can play with my toy." What a sweetheart!

Thursday, November 22nd

Happy Thanksgiving! It wouldn't be a holiday morning in the Nelson home if there weren't orange rolls available for breakfast. Dan's mom (Carol) couldn't even resist -- and she hardly ever eats foods that contain high sugar and/or flour.

At about 1:00 p.m. Dan's sister (Mandy) and her husband (Cale) joined us. We munched on appetizers while we watched some football. Later, we were joined by Dan's Aunt Diane, Uncle Ralph (Carol's brother), and their grandson (Aden).

Dinner was served at 4:30 p.m. Carol prepared a lovely spread of food! Everything was delicious and the table was dressed very nicely -- I helped.

 

After dinner we cracked open some special Thanksgiving crackers that Aunt Diane brought for everyone. They delivered a boisterous pop when broken and inside were a bunch of Thanksgiving goodies -- including the super stylish hats you see in the photo below. It was a blast! Even Jake got in on the fun.

We also spent some quality time celebrating Stefanie and Carol's birthdays -- Stefanie's birthday was actually on Thanksgiving. Together, they opened gifts and later we sang Happy Birthday -- as you can see below, our Thanksgiving desserts served a double purpose.

Friday, November 23rd

I was scheduled to work at 4:30 on Black Friday morning, so we hoped to be on our way home by 8:00 p.m. Yep, we were on the road to go home by 9:00 p.m. -- we're social butterflies, what can I say.

I was in bed by about midnight and my alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. Yikes! I may not be a morning person but I do prefer getting up early and getting the work day over with. Honestly, work flew by! The first couple of hours were slow, but I got to chat with my high school friend (Peaches) who took a break from her Black Friday shopping to stop in and see me. At about 7:00 a.m. things started to pick up and 10:30 a.m. came out of nowhere. It was an easy shift, that's for sure.

When I got home Dan had the house clean and ready for our company. Just after 12:00 p.m. my parents came by for a continued Thanksgiving meal.

While I worked on dinner, we snacked on appetizers. Among the appetizers were some cranberry infused cheddar cheese and sausages that we got when we were in the U.P. So good!

At about 1:30 p.m. dinner was served! On today's menu I featured Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna, romaine lettuce/dried cranberry/strawberry/almond salad, Pillsbury Grands, and sparkling Welch's grape juice. This was my second attempt (ever!) at making a lasagna and I was very impressed with how this one turned out. I highly recommend it! to make the meal extra special, Dan and I even used our China! Now that we're in a house, we no longer have to keep the China stored in boxes. Yay! That means it'll get used more often.

After dinner we relaxed and sipped coffee/apple cider while we enjoyed leftover desserts. It was a lovely afternoon. It was really nice to see my parents over Thanksgiving weekend.

Later that evening, Dan and I got to work decorating the house for Christmas! We turned on some Christmas movies while we dressed the house up in our Christmas decor. I love this time of year!

Jetta got into the Christmas spirit by putting on one of her Christmas sweaters. She was a busy bee and crashed on the couch before we were even done.

Saturday, November 24th

Saturday evening we got together with some of Dan's former co-workers for dinner at Aodake. Dan's former supervisor (Olga) was on her way back to Russia, so our gathering was a little good bye see you later dinner.

While out to dinner we got some exciting news, Dan's other former supervisor (Jeff) just got engaged to his lovely girlfriend (Jen)!! These newly engaged love birds weren't even engaged for 24 hours when we saw them, so the news was very fresh and we couldn't be more excited for these two! Congratulations Jeff and Jen!

Sunday, November 25th

Sunday was another busy day. First, Jetta gave us a tiny scare when we discovered she ripped into her bed during the night. There was stuffing everywhere and her belly was bloated. To play things safe, Dan took her to the emergency vet -- she was okay.

While Dan was at the vet, I went to music practice. Dan was supposed to work on A/V, so his partner (Justin) scrambled to work everything by himself during practice. Dan was also supposed to teach the Youth Group Sunday School hour, so I took his place when I was done with practice. Normally, I run through the music and slides during Sunday School, but since I was occupied I couldn't double-check everything. Yeah... things didn't exactly go smooth during the service and I felt awful. Ugh! Despite the fact that I was attempting to hold back tears at the end of the service (out of sheer embarrassment) I was still encouraged by all of the kind words folks shared with me after the service. God is good!

After church I went to work at the mall... and after working at the mall I went home to edit video. Sundays are usually very busy for me, but I made it through the day.

As expected, Thanksgiving weekend went by way too fast, but I must say, I had a wonderful holiday weekend with family and friends! I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am very blessed!