Hello friends! How was your Thanksgiving weekend?
As is the case every year, ours went way too fast, and now Joe and I find ourselves on the couch, lamenting that our little break is over. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for Monday – this week is going to be quite crazy busy at work so I just want to be on ignore for a little while longer. Sounds like some measurable snow is on the way, as well – typical for this time of year, but I’ve rather enjoyed our snow-less fall to date.
Ah, but that all sounds a little sad and depressing. Instead, let’s take a look back on our Thanksgiving weekend – that sounds much more fun. (Be prepared for an overload of photos – just saying.)
We headed to the farm Thanksgiving morning – and the house looked warm and inviting both inside and out, as it always does the for the holidays. (There’s a valid reason or three my Mom has been dubbed the Martha Stewart of the Midwest.)
Cheers for sisters getting together!
We tried the Beaujolais Nouveau, which is always released the third Thursday of November. (This bottle was from Georges Duboeuf winery.) Drinking Beaujolais Nouveau before the New Year is supposed to bring good luck in 2016, so I’m all for that! (Other fun facts about this particular wine can be found here and here.)
My niece Morgan was also looking very festive! I mean, really, how cute is this little munchkin?
She also kept an eye out on the turkey in the oven. 🙂
My mom always sets a beautiful table.
And my Dad is in charge of carving the turkey.
Just a few of the dishes we shared on Thanksgiving – what a bounty of delicious food!
It probably comes as no surprise that my contribution to the meal was dessert – and this Gingerbread Pumpkin Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce (from The Pioneer Woman) did not disappoint.
And after all that, the post-dinner nap was mandatory, of course. (Miss Morgan wanted me to take her upstairs, and she promptly fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. My sister has now taken to calling me “The Nap Whisperer.” Ha!
After naptime, it was time to bundle up and head outside to visit Grandma’s Santa – for a cousin photo op!
That’s my boy! 🙂
Later, while the rest of us chowed down on leftovers (including double helpings of my Grandma’s old-fashioned stuffing – yum!), the kiddos were pretty excited when Grandma pulled a Jack’s frozen pizza out of the freezer. Crazy, I know. It seems almost blasphemous on Thanksgiving – but you know Joe. It is impossible for him refuse Jack’s pizza and apparently Miss Morgan is taking after him.
It’s actually hard to believe we could be hungry again, but Friday morning meant breakfast and lefse! Mom added eggs, bacon, hash browns, and cheese and rolled up the lefse like a Norwegian burrito – the BEST! (On a side note, I finally ordered my own lefse grill today – I can’t wait to put my lefse lesson from last year to the test!)
Back home for the weekend, we set about adding some Christmas cheer to our home – including this vintage tinsel tree that I received years ago from Teacher Man’s parents. It is now the boys’ tradition to put it together (each of the branches is stored separately and then added to the base when they set it up) and decorate it with my vintage Christmas balls.
Teacher Man was also pretty excited that his beloved Iowa Hawkeyes beat Nebraska on Friday to go 12-0 for the season!
Earl the Pug, on the other hand, didn’t seem quite that interested in helping put his own dog bone ornament on the tree but Joe was adamant he get in on the action – and the photos. 😉
Finally, Joe put the tree topper on and tree was complete.
Which always leads to our annual goofball picture in front of the tree … our 2014 photo is on the bottom. 😉
And a Christmas tree #selfie!
I have to share this photo with you, as it’s my Grandma Doris’s Christmas village. I’ve had it sitting in a tub in the basement for several years but I finally had the perfect place to put it this year. Isn’t it so pretty?
And of course, it wouldn’t be the weekend without some baking! I made Joe’s favorite chocolate chip cookies so he’d have something fun to put in his lunch bag all week – and because I’m pretty sure there’s nothing better than warm chocolate chip cookies on a Sunday afternoon. I’m not even going to tell you how many cookies the three of us devoured today.
So now as Joe and I relax on our final evening of Thanksgiving break …
… we admire our Christmas tree and lights outside on our front porch. I guess after it’s all said and done, it’s probably time for a little snow to really make it seem like December. (Did I seriously just write that? Am I feeling okay?)
Have a great start to your week!
Lara
P.S. If you are a farm/country blogger, then a big reminder that Monday (tomorrow!) is the deadline to sign up for the 2015 Christmas in the Country gift exchange – details here. I hope you will join us! (You can see who’s already signed up by clicking here.)