Thanksgiving 2013

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family at my sister's home in Nashville. We also squeezed in some visiting with Daniel's family. We have so much to be thankful for. I hope you had a blessed day, whether you were with your family, friends or on your own.

Two days before Thanksgiving Jack and I headed to my sister's house. As I buckled Jack into his carseat, he started to chant excitedly, "Cousins!" over and over. It was the sweetest thing. He had a ton of fun running around with Izzy and Levi all week.

My parents got in late Tuesday, after the kids were in bed. First thing Wednesday morning, the kids were up and ready to play with their Grandpa. He read to them and they had fun trying to wrestle with him. Later my mom played hide and seek with Izzy for over an hour. Izzy was thrilled to play for so long.

Over the course of our visit, there were many opportunities for baking and Izzy did not miss a moment in the kitchen.

Jack and Levi were sure to get their cooking opportunities as well... or at the very least a beater to lick!

Thanksgiving morning, we cooked and cooked. My brother-in-law, Robert, tried a new technique with the turkey. He spatchcocked it (cutting the back bone out) so that it would fit in his smoker. The turkey (and smoked ham) were ah-may-zing! Kuddos to Robert for always making us excellent food when we visit.

While the food cooked, my brother danced with the kids to the Christmas music that we had streaming.

Around lunch, my aunt and uncle and their kids arrived. We squeezed in a game of pinocle and spent the day visiting and playing games.

We are blessed to be able to see so many in our large family this holiday.

Thursday night, we left the kids with the extended family and my sister, brother-in-law and Daniel and I snuck off for a double date. This is the first movie we have seen in a theater in about a year. Catching Fire was the perfect movie to watch in the theater.

Friday morning, Angela and Robert snuck off to go appliance shopping and score some Black Friday deals. We had fun with the kids while they were away. Jack and Levi invented a game of climbing on the love seat and jumping off. They thought it was hilarious. 

While my sister was scoring her good deals, Daniel and I received some surprising news (stay tuned for my next blog post).

After lunch my sister and her family and my parents went to get a Christmas Tree. That afternoon, the tree was set up and decorated with lights by my brother and Izzy. Mark is the go-to person in our family for amazing decorating at Christmas time. He makes sure that every branch is lit :)

While they worked, we got in a game of Rummikub.

That night we went to see the lights at the Jellystone Campground in Nashville. It was $25 per carload, so we squeezed 7 adults and 3 kids into the minivan and enjoyed a little holiday celebrating together. After the lights, we stopped to see the petting zoo. Unfortunately to do anything extra cost an arm and a leg. The kids were disappointed, but none of the adults wanted to spend more $.

For dinner, we went to Cock of the Walk. We had fun taking pictures in the giant rocking chair. The food was so so and seemed overpriced. Plus we weren't expecting to be served family style. It was an interesting experience, but I don't think I would go back.

When we got home, the kids got to open their Christmas presents from my parents. They were all excited for their gifts and I am thankful we got to spend that time with my mom and dad since we won't see them at Christmas.

We had such a great visit and I look forward to seeing everyone again.

2012 Book 6: Mockingjay

I finally wrapped up The Hunger Games trilogy. I stayed up until midnight to finish Mockingjay {this was tough since I had to get up to feed Jack shortly after going to sleep... such is life with an infant}.

Overall I really enjoyed the trilogy. My first impressions are that The Hunger Games was my favorite book of the three. Mockingjay was a bit intense and I feel like the movie version of this book will be incredibly gory... not sure that I will be able to watch it.

I was a bit disappointed in the deaths of certain characters {don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't read the trilogy yet}, but believe they were necessary to the plot. Also I wish that the characters of Coin and Boggs were more developed. I kind of felt like I was just thrown into book 3 without much set up. Since I had waited almost a month between reading Catching Fire and Mockingjay, there were a few times that my tired mommy brain couldn't figure out what was going on from the previous storyline.

I really liked the ending and believed that Katness chose the right boy for her {again, I don't want to spoil it}.

Excerpts from the book: 

I begin to fully understand the lengths to which people have gone to protect me. What I mean to the rebels. My ongoing struggle against the Capitol, which has so often felt like a solitary journey, has not been undertaken alone. I have had thousands upon thousands of people from the districts at my side. I was their Mockingjay long before I accepted the role.

 

I’m sick of people lying to me for my own good. Because really it’s mostly for their own good.

“That’s why I killed Cato…and he killed Thresh…and he killed Clove…and she tried to kill me. It just goes around and around, and who wins? Not us. Not the districts. Always the Capitol. But I’m tired of being a piece in their Games.”

 

Am I really that cold and calculating? Gale didn’t say, “Katniss will pick whoever it will break her heart to give up,” or even “whoever she can’t live without.” Those would have implied I was motivated by a kind of passion. But my best friend predicts I will choose the person who I think I “can’t survive without.”

What I need to survive is not -----'s fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only ----- can give me that.

2012 Book 2: Catching Fire

My second book for the year was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, part II of The Hunger Games trilogy. In Catching Fire we learn that Katniss and Peeta have become symbols of rebellion against The Capitol and President Snow is bound and determined to make them pay for this rebellion.

Catching Fire was very fascinating though it didn't quite hold the same intrigue for me as The Hunger Games did. I think this is because I found the storyline in The Hunger Games to be very unexpected and I found myself anticipating much of what happened in Catching Fire. That being said, Catching Fire is still a great book and I am looking forward to reading Mockingjay and finding out how the series ends.