Thanksgiving 2014 and a little What I'm Loving Wednesday

We were blessed enough to get to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year. We celebrated once in Coeur d'Alene with Justin's family and my brother, and then we celebrated again in Moscow with my siblings and my dad.

My MIL and I put together an amazing dinner, and did so much planning and prep ahead of time that it was possibly the easiest Thanksgiving day I have been a part of. Go us.

I bought that little turkey hat for Sawyer over the summer when I was still pregnant. At that time Thanksgiving seemed like forever away. I can't believe he's already almost 2 months old!

I am loving that we got to go downtown on Friday and watch the parade, the fireworks, and all of the downtown Christmas lights get turned on at once! Justin usually has to work and misses it, so it was so nice for him to be off. The weather was horrible, rainy and windy, but we braved it out and the rain stopped just in time for the fireworks. It was great, I'm glad we stuck it out.

I am loving that I got to spend some time with my siblings. It's so fun when we all get together. I laughed until I cried multiple times over the weekend. No one makes me laugh quite like they do.

so much concentration

I am loving watching Sawyer interact with my family. They all love him so much and literally fight over who gets to hold him next. To say he is going to be a spoiled child would be an understatement. He also loves my dad's voice. When my dad talks to him he get's totally still and just smiles and stares at him. It's so cute.

I am loving the stocking kit that I am working on for Sawyer. Justin's mom made the same kind of stockings for all of her boys and they are just beautiful. I thought it would be fun for our family to have matching ones. I thought I would be able to bust it out before Christmas but it's slightly more complicated then I thought it would be. We'll see how far I get!

I am loving that I have been cleared for exercise! I did my first post baby yoga class last night. It was hard but I'm excited to get back into it!

I am loving all the progress on our house! The inside has all been painted and the hardwood floors are going in soon! It's all coming together! We are picking out rugs and carpets and furniture, and it seems like we will be moving in in no time! I am so excited.

I am loving that Sawyer is starting to sleep longer hours at night. I got 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep last night and it was glorious. It was probably a fluke but hey, I'll take what I can get.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I had Wednesday through Sunday off from work and it was Uh. Maze. Ing. Wednesday I indulged myself by sleeping in, reading, and getting a shellac mani pedi.

After that I headed up to the inlaws to start the Thanksgiving prep. It started like this:

So... perfectly.

We prepped the stuffing and I made pecan pie.

And the doggies got a little bit spoiled.

Thursday morning Justin and I went to his Dad's house for coffee and donuts with his dad and grandparents. Then we went back to Justin's mom and stepdad's house to start the cooking!

I was in charge of cranberry cake with hot butter sauce, green bean casserole, and homemade rolls!

I was lucky enough to get to have my dad with us as well. I think this was the first holiday I've ever spent with my dad without my siblings. Although I missed them dearly it was kind of nice to have him all to myself.

We had amazing people, amazing food, and so many blessings. It was a wonderful day.

The cooks relaxing after dinner...

...while the guys cleaned up!

Friday we went downtown for the lighting ceremony. Justin usually has to work through this, but this year he had it off! It was his first time ever going to the ceremony!

There is a parade, amazing firework display, and then all of the downtown Christmas lights turn on at the same time. It is spectacular.

Saturday and today were spent getting helping my MIL get her house ready for Christmas, and the getting our house ready. Complete with decorating the tree!

I even got a little bit of reading done!

It was such a great little break! Now I am all rested and ready for a busy work week!

Hope you all had an amazing holiday weekend!

Happy Thankful (Thursday) Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for. A small list on this here blog can not even begin to cover my blessings. But we'll go ahead and try. =)

I am thankful for my husband, the love of my life, the person I know knows my heart and soul. (You can go ahead and excuse yourself to barf, I won't mind.) I seriously don't know what I would do without him.

I am thankful for my family. My parents, my in-laws, my siblings, my sibling in-laws, my grandparents. I love them all.

I am thankful for Doodle. <3

I am thankful for my friends.

I am thankful for wine, and ice cream, and let's just be honest... food in general.



I am thankful for yoga.

I am thankful for my faith in Jesus Christ.

I am thankful for my break from school.

I am thankful that my dad finally scheduled a much needed surgery.

I am thankful for my iPhone, seriously I feel lost without it.

I am thankful for my readers, and that some people might actually like reading about my little life.

I am thankful for CostCo. Period.

I am thankful for books. I'm bookin it through a few over break, reviews coming soon! (See what I did there?)

I am thankful for the roof over my head and the clothes on my back.

I am thankful for my job, and my amazing coworkers.

I am thankful for all of the bloggers out there that are so encouraging and friendly.

I am thankful for reality TV. Shameful but true. Not even embarrassed.



I am thankful that I am getting to spend Thanksgiving with some of my favorite people.

I hope you all have an amazing holiday. I'll be back on Monday to share all about my (sure to be wonderful) holiday weekend.

Thanksgiving #1

Being a child of separated parents means that I have gotten to celebrate two of every major holiday for awhile now. Now that Justin and I are married we have even more family to spend holidays with, which I am not complaining about. So our weekend was spent celebrating our first of probably three Thanksgivings this year.

Justin and I traveled down to Moscow on Saturday once he was off work and met up with my siblings, and my mom and step dad, who had traveled over from Tacoma.

Saturday night we had dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, and my stepdad, my sister, and I all got sombreros and birthday treats for our November birthdays!

Sunday was spent cooking, and eating, and taking family photos, and of course playing games. 

 The Minerts =)

the bookends

photobombing at its best

my beautiful momma

sisters <3

siblings

take 1

take 2

there we go

Poodle love

game time

how to open wine when you can't find a corkscrew

Thanksgiving dinner! 

We headed home this morning in time for me to make it to school. That's right... I still had to work. Dumb. 

But that's not the reason for the day anyway, thank you so much to all of the service men and women who have served our country. Thank you. I appreciate you all.

Now here's to a great week! And remember to come on back here Thursday to link your Thankful post, and on Friday for a wonderful surprise!!