Silly Macy's

We are at Lenox Square mall, where we rode the Pink Pig and shopped to our hearts' content.  Our dear friend Myeida, who works at Bath & Body Works, gave G a very generous (and cool) gift - a plug-in scented nightlight that CHANGES COLORS!  It is the coolest thing ever, and she is so kind to Chip every time she sees him.  We heart Myeida.

The tree atop Macy's is always a treat to see; it always puts us in the holiday mood.  When we got to "silly Macy's", (Two years ago, Bunnut opened lots of Christmas presents from this store, and G was mock exasperated at yet another Macy's box.  Incidentally, and consequently, it became one of the first words he could ever read.) we had packed a bag for hours of waiting in line for the Pink Pig and were terrified of the crowds, lines, and traffic that we imagined were in store for us.  In fact, there was a little street traffic, but we drove right in to a spot being vacated, and there was no line for the ride.  NO LINE!  And to top it off, we arrived at the stairs up to the ride at the exact same time as the Soergel-Harrises.  It was a beautiful surprise that everything went so smoothly, and we have had a lovely time thus far.

We are now on our way to Atlantic Station, where we are meeting up again with Lindsay and Danielle, et al, Danielle's niece and her friend, and the Whaleys for dinner at Strip.  After dinner, the kids will play in the (machine-made) snow in the central square, and we will take a few photos.

More blogging to come - stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had a fabulous Thanksgiving. This year, we are more grateful than ever for our family, friends, and many blessings. Here is the story of our celebration in photos.

While shopping for our Thanksgiving groceries, we found a bag of jumbo marshmallows and couldn't resist them.

While cleaning for Thanksgiving, we found a carton of Easter eggs from 2009. Here is one of the eggs that G decorated.

Here is our 20-pound turkey after we brined it, but before we cooked it.

The turkey was stuffed with aromatics - onion, apple, cinnamon stick, sage, and rosemary. Here is a tantalizing photo of the finished turkey with rosemary.

The turkey came out beautifully aromatic, tasty, and juicy.

Chip, Gail, Matt's dad, Matty, and I sat at the dining room table.

My dad, Jen, little J, Jack, and my mom sat at the kitchen table, which was moved into the entryway, next to the dining room table, so we could all sit near each other.

Besides the turkey, we had corn, stuffing, carrots and parsnips, (homemade) green bean casserole, (homemade) mashed potatoes, (homemade) cheesy potato casserole, ham, and (homemade) cloverleaf rolls. For appetizers, we had M&Ms, cheese and crackers, shell-them-youself nuts, shrimp cocktail, and olives. For dessert, we had cookies, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, lemon pie, and chocolate pie.

Jaxie gives his big cousin a kiss.

Papa, J, and G got some quality cuddle time together.

Everyone went outside for the first annual Ceremonial Thanksgiving Lighting Of The House.

Here I am, about to plug in the power to the lights.

 Here is the first annual Ceremonial Lighting Of The House.  Ta-dah!

We decided that Christmas season officially begins after the Ceremonial Lighting Of The House, Chip had to wait all day for us to give him his gift: a Lego Advent calendar.

We all ate as much as we could, but we still ended up with lots and lots of leftovers. This photo doesn't show the dessert leftovers!

It was very warm today, so we had to dress as though it were summer. It didn't keep us from being in the holiday spirit, though!

We had a really wonderful day.

We really had a wonderful day today, and we hope that you did, too. To our family and friends all over the place, we were thinking of you today and how blessed we are that you are in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving!