Thanksgiving-ness..

This year, we had two Thanksgivings.
Merrill (the anti-social weirdo that he is.. love you Merrill!) dislikes family gatherings of all kind, so he opted to work Thanksgiving, thus leaving me free to take the children to my family's Thanksgiving dinner.
It was a nice day, but just didn't feel like Thanksgiving.  We have had almost 10 years of our own Thanksgivings, and that is what I am used to..
It was nice, just not what I am used to Thanksgiving being.

The girls enjoyed running around and playing with all of their cousins.  Everyone was there, except Joe and Jaclyn, who were hosting Dixon and Kaitlyn (Darlene was out of town with MiKell who was cheering in the Macy's Parade..) but they came later.  I did have to have a discussion with Lynn before going to mom and dad's about how Josh is her cousin for all intents and purposes at this time.  They are not blood relation, but that is just too confusing a concept to try to explain right now.  There is too much talk about kissing and such.  Lines must be drawn!
We all enjoyed seeing how Promises tummy is now poking out, holding baby Chace (whose name Peyton has not stopped saying since...) and enjoying all the good food.

 The kids ended-up playing in the basement, telling stories in the dark, by the light of flashlight, something Lynn and James came up with, I am sure. 

 They all got so cold, Lynn and James decided to make use of the blanket that was available to them.  The blanket was also serving the purpose of covering all their Christmas toys, toys from Grandpa and Grandma.  Mom decided to check on them at just the right moment, but they had no clue what was lying next to them, now uncovered.
We stayed a while, then came home and went for a swim down at the hotel.

We had our own Thanksgiving (and it really felt like it this time..) the next day complete with all of our traditions..
Sparkling cider..

Putting up the tree..
Watching "It's a Wonderful Life"..
Making a gingerbread house..

And eating it the same night is our new tradition, thanks to Peyton. :)

 

I wasn't feeling well (still) and didn't really feel like standing and washing all the China, so we didn't partake in that tradition, and I felt guilty wanting it to be perfect for our first Thanksgiving in the house..  but then again, it really wasn't Thanksgiving, and I soon got over it. :)
As for decorating the house..
We did have to make a few alterations to our tree..
We do not have our 14 foot + ceilings in this house, and therefore, had to trim off 7 inches of the center pole.  We also had to leave off the two bottom rows of branches. 
It was kind of sad.
But it all works!  Hopefully I can get some pictures soon...
I was looking forward to starting off life in our new home right with the holiday season, get it feeling like home, making memories right away..  ya know..  so far, it's working out pretty well.
We enjoyed watching more Christmas movies throughout the weekend.  We especially enjoy hearing Peyton say "HOHOHO!!!"  She sounds an awful lot like the nasty Santa on "A Christmas Story".  She also loved "The Santa Clause" and even said, "Bye bye Santa." at the end.
So many blessings to reflect on this year..  we are so blessed.