About our Thanksgiving

**LAST YEAR THANKSGIVING PICTURES... just to show we were alive last year, too...**

Because, of course, we celebrated Thanksgiving this year too. In our house, Thanksgiving is not just a day we celebrate. It's a full on weekend extravaganza. We tied up all our loose ends (work, homework, etc.) Wednesday, so that every day was Thanksgiving.

Thursday I was in the kitchen all morning, making all sorts of wonderful things. If you know me, that is a big deal. Big deal. Huge. And, I'm not talking some boxed, already made "stuff". I'm talking, wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving feast delights. My turkey was awesome. I just have to say it.

Chris went surfing, and I played mother hen (for the first year ever). J slept, and the house became my playground, as I went wild. When Chris got back we went to Turkey dinner #1 with his singles ward. Of course we dressed up as Indians (really, I thought dressing up was just mandatory on Thanksgiving. Isn't it?? Who doesn't dress up? Alot of people, we found out. What's the deal??), to celebrate Chris' indian heritage. I even braided J's hair, because that's what indians do.

Then, nap again for the small human and myself (how does an adult get so tired...so often??), and off to our Thanksgiving feast #2 and Jackie and Chris'. Of course, everything was perfect: good food, good people, good fun, and lots of desert. Just the way I like it. After J face dove off their cement steps on their patio, we thought it was a good idea to call it a night.

We put J to bed, and Chris and I stayed up, enjoying our wild-late-night (I think it was 8:00 PM). We like eachother.

The Friday following Thanksgiving is the start of CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!! We don't start a day earlier. Sorry. We are just "those type of people". Thanksgiving, and THEN Christmas. We pulled out all our decorations, decorated the tree, lit some candles, played Christmas music, drew our names (you know, for who-buys-for-who...yes we do that, even with just the 3.5 of us), ate lots of treats, drank hot chocolate (even in Hawaii, yes) and tried to explain to J 5.4 million times that he can't just rip the decorations off the tree. He still doesn't get it.

Then, we went to visit BABY RUBY!! The little thing was born on Thanksgiving Day! How appropriate. The whole way to the hospital we kept trying to get J to say "Baby Ruby". He's got it down now. Perfect: Bibby Boodie (because EVERYTHING starts with a "B" to that kid. Not sure how that happened). If I was a perfect Mom, I would have captured the most adorable moment J had with his brand new friend. When we walked into the room, his face lit up when he immediately identified the baby in the corner as the one deemed "Biddy Boodie". Chris held J, and I held Ruby as I placed her on his lap. He just cuddled her, laying his head on her, giving her kisses, rubbing her head, etc. Let me just say, it was a great sign of good things to come.

This picture is to show that I actually, in deed, saw Ruby. And, yes, I swalled a watermelon whole. Whoops.

Of course, Ruby is perfect. Perfect. Just so stinkin' cute. She does NOT have black hair (Erik keeps telling everyone that). She has this wonderful brown-ish-with-a-tint-of-maybe-turning-blonde colored hair. Got it? SO CUTE. I love her. Her parents, Kindsay and Erik, are our life time friends, and we love them.

We hung around there for a little bit, until J freaked out that anyone else was holding Ruby. He didn't want to share her. At all. He wanted her all to himself. He ran up to her and tried to grab her from me, pulling her, and trying to claw my hands off her. He was ready to take her and leave, and didn't want anyone else to stop him. Then it was time to go.

Then Saturday was family day. We went shopping. I hate shopping in crowds. It stresses me out. There is nothing fun about it. Living on this island, I have become VERY accustomed to online shopping. It's one of my greatest sources of joy. Anyway, we made Uncle Andy hang out with us for the day, since that's what families do. We ate lots and lots and lots of food, went to a surf contest on the North Shore, drank more hot chocolate, went shopping, etc. Not a big deal. Very low key (I had to keep reminding myself). I was on a hunt for an awesome tree skirt and stockings, but fell short in both of those catagories. I think I'll be making my own this year.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving was a successful event, happily prolonged over a few days. Thank goodness. I'm glad I gained four pounds the week before... hopefully I don't break the scale when I go into the doctors office this week. We shall see.

Disclaimer: I have no idea how to upload pictures from our camera, and my Mr. Chris is far away, studying to his hearts delight, so... all pictures from this year are courtesy of my cell phone, or very old pictures I found on the computer from last year. You're welcome.