Mississippi Thanksgiving

We traveled a not-so-rough 8 hours to Hattiesburg, as we do every Thanksgiving, to visit my family and we had such a fun time! The trip gets easier as Kai gets older. I miss my family so much and I am grateful for every chance I get to see them. We got there Tuesday evening and G-pa had Legos and necklace bead kits waiting for Kai and Leigha. They also had Pizza Hut's chicken and alfredo pasta (that we love so much but don't live anywhere near a Pizza Hut) waiting for us when we got there-and it was warm. Mmmmmmmm. We decided to stay at my brother Jared's house since he and his beautiful family moved this past year and have extra room to accomodate us. I also hate feeling guilty when my parents give up their king-sized bed and sleep in the living room when we visit. The kids loved waking up and playing with Jack and Cooper while Ben and I got ready every morning.


Cooper

Kai, Leigha, and Jack

Wednesday, I went shopping with mom to find a new Christmas tree. Her old one has gotten too big for her to get out and put up herself-something she likes to do-so we found the perfect one, small and slender, at Wal-Mart for $20. We went to four stores before that and I was glad she liked it, although she wanted to hold out for a little bit bigger one. Mom also wanted to do a themed tree this year, since she had never done one. For thirty years, mom got free homemade ornaments from her children which she distributed back as we have gotten older. We decided on elegant cream colored ribbon, white poinsettas, and various glass gold and clear ornaments with white lights. It turned out gorgeous, and I would've taken a picture, but I was probably at the movie theater seeing Twilight for the second or third time. Got to have your priorities straight!
Thanksgiving was so yummy! My mom got some things together and Summer and I finished cooking up everything. Dad always gets a Heavenly Ham and Turkey and we also made green-bean casserole, mac and cheese, Stove Top (I think we had homemade dressing one year, but we all agreed Stove Top was better), croissants, creamed corn, pumpkin pie, egg custard, and Summer made pecan pie tarts. I'm sure I left something out but it was all so good.
All the boys went to USM's campus to play out the annual Turkey Bowl. I wish I thought to take pictures, but I was busy in the kitchen where I should've been ,as my brothers would say. I was so impressed with my dad who has been doing the P90X workouts. Ben was sore for three days from their football game! Guess who ordered the P90X workouts when we got home from our trip?
Black Friday is always so much fun. I always go with Summer, but the other people usually change from year to year. This year, Summer's sister-in-law Kimberly joined us and we met up with dad at Bed, Bath, and Beyond where he bought us our Christmas presents-Heavy Duty KitchenAid mixers. Isn't he the best dad ever? I can't wait to make all my Christmas goodies with it.
We had such a good time, it's always hard to leave. Kai asked if we could stay three more days. If they didn't have school, we would have since Ben is STILL enjoying his vacation from work. He goes back tomorrow night.