We had Thanksgiving here at our home again this year....and boy was it a busy busy weekend!!! We had both families here....Jeff's parents (mimi and papa), my mom (oma) and my sister, Katie. We were only missing Jeff's sister, Stephanie and her husband, Rob....which would have made us complete. We still had a full house, and a packed weekend agenda but it was wonderful!
Thursday was a full on cooking marathon...although I began in the days prior with the baking, prepping, etc. Mimi was in charge of the turkey. She makes the best turkeys and her gravy...lets just say that I could drink it ;) it is that good. My mom did her green bean casserole and Katie completed the mashed potatoes. Everything was homemade except for the rolls....we just had too many things needing to be in the oven (yes, I should have gotten that double oven option). So we made it work, and we sure did have a delicious spread of food!! Despite a few snafus...the oven magically shutting itself off and derailing our dinner time a tad...we ate and drank and enjoyed everything! We browsed the shopping ads that evening and planned our next day shopping adventure, while we ate our pie.
So, Friday came early....3am to be exact. Katie insisted we get up super early to snag the Black Friday deals. We shopped until lunch time. We all grabbed lots of good buys...no super terrific deals to mention...but it was still worth going out!
Saturday we went to pick out our Christmas tree. We headed to Latta Plantation and Equestrian center at the referral from a friend who said they do carriage rides, etc. So we thought that sounded like a fun christmas tree experience other than just going to a lot! Connor loved the horses and riding at the front of the carriage. I have to be honest and say that I was a little disappointed in the tree selection. None were small enough for a tiny boys tree and none were big enough for what I like in our living room (yes, I like them tall!)....so we had to settle but they turned out to be pretty little trees. The experience was worth it though...Connor had a ball with the horses! Saturday night we made a big pot of chili with all of the fixins and then Katie, Oma, and I snuck off to see the Twilight movie. (I was totally disappointed, and liked the others much better).
Sunday was another busy but very special day too. Greyson was baptized at First United Methodist Church of Charlotte, the same church Connor was baptized at as well. It was a lovely service. Greyson was on his best behavior despite skipping his morning nap in place of a catnap in the car on the way to the church. His Godparents, Drew and Jessica Bedard, came from Tennessee to share the special day with us too! Just a little explanation, because I found it interesting....Methodists justify infant baptism by the principle of 'prevenient grace', which is divine grace before a human's decision. Methodists believe that an infant baptism is God's promise to the infant that calls that infant to eventually believe in God's Word for salvation. The way our pastor put it....it signifies God’s initiative in the process of salvation, prevenient grace, is the grace that works in our lives before we are aware of it, bringing us to faith. Then when the individual believes in Jesus they will profess their faith before the church, often called confirmation. We are so thrilled to share this spiritual journey with our children!
So, that pretty much wraps up our Turkey weekend....as if it wasn't busy enough ;) It was memorable and unforgettable...here are lots of pics from the weekend....
