Thanksgiving - In a Nutshell

There are a ton of things that totally stink about being unemployed.

There are, however, some definite benefits --- like being able to extend Thanksgiving break from two days to five!

With Drew off of school all week long, and having no other major obligations to speak of, we were able to head out of town on Tuesday to enjoy a nice, long Thanksgiving break with family.

Our activities included (in a nutshell)...

Tuesday - Arrived in Des Moines around 4:30, and met up with Brad's parents {and our niece, Lauren} at Perkins for dinner.  We then headed over to a local high school, where we met Sheryl to watch Janae, another niece, play on her varsity girls basketball team.

Wednesday - Spent the day playing at Brent & Esther's, with Lewis, Lauren, and Alison.  The boys were flooded with attention from their cousins, which allowed Brad and I to just sit back and relax (although the girls insisted I change Reed's dirty diapers).  Brad worked on a puzzle and I worked on a project for the boys.

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day - A HUGE meal at Glenda & Rob's with Brad's entire family.  The food was delicious, followed by a family game of football in the backyard.  There was a lot of game playing and football watching, and let's not kid ourselves - a lot of dessert eating!  After tucking in the boys (they were exhausted!), Brad and I headed out for some Black Friday shopping.  We hit up Toys 'R Us, Walmart, and Younkers before making it back home, and into bed, by 1am.

Friday - Another day to relax!  A bit more shopping in the morning for me, both online and in the stores, and more football watching for the guys.  More playing for the little guys, and an all around wonderful day with family.

Saturday - Up early to head to northeast Iowa for the Gushee family gathering.  More food and more fun and more family...this is my kind of holiday!  Back in the van to travel home, arriving at home and nestled in bed by 10:30pm.

So incredibly thankful for so many things.

Family definitely tops the list.

Now...

*deep breath*

Christmas madness...here we come!