A Little Late

I know this is late in coming but I still want to write about my Thanksgiving.

Jacob and I went to visit my family for Thanksgiving this year. It was a quick trip but a good time just the same. We flew out Wednesday and arrived at may parent's house at about 9 pm. Our trip was filled with the usual Carter activities; eating, game playing, and hanging with the kiddos. We had a big crowd for Thanksgiving dinner (I guess it's always a big crowd at the Carter's) and barely had room in my parent's house. I'm pretty sure my mom is ready to move our dinner to a Church building the next time we are all in town. I guess I don't blame her. It's a pretty tight fit.

I also participated in one of Jacob's traditions. He is a Black Friday shopper. I have been before but it's not really my thing so much as I'll go along with people. I do find it all a little fascinating. It's such a strange thing. But, I enjoy watching the madness of it all. Josh and Matt also joined us this year and that made it a little more fun for me. Jacob brought his walkie-talkie's so we could all keep track of each other. We woke up at 4 and were out the door at about 4:20. Our first stop was Wal Mart. Josh was wanting a football. We were looking for the $2 DVD's, Rubbermaid containers, and that's about it. We mostly got what we were looking for, excluding any good DVD's. Those were pretty well cleaned out by the time we arrived. Up next was Best Buy for a set of cordless phones. Matt was wanting some cheap Wii games. We all came away with what we were looking for there. We then made our way to Old Navy for some cheap jeans (both Jacob and Josh wanted a pair or two). I started to lose my patience a little at this point. Old Navy's lines were crazy long and pretty inefficient. But, we did score some cheap jeans so I guess I can't complain too loudly. While I was waiting in line and Old Navy, Jacob and Matt headed over to Target to check it out. They didn't last long there. Apparently it was a madhouse. Our last stop was Staples. It was a quick one and I didn't even get out of the car.

I learned something about husband from this Black Friday experience. Jacob is usually not much of a fan of waking up. But you should have seen him when the alarm went off at 4. He shot out of bed like I have never seen before. It's good to know he has this capability.

A little later that morning MaryAnn decided she wanted to go to Wal Mart to see if she could still find the few things that were on her list. Jacob and I decided to join her just to compare what Wal Mart was like a few hours after the door busting. Turns out, it was a much more pleasant experience. MaryAnn got all but one thing on her list, we checked out quickly, and had no problem parking. And it was at a much more reasonable hour.

That afternoon we continued our shopping adventures to get a gift for my Mom's birthday. All the women in the house went to Bed Bath and Beyond while the men folk went to Lowe's. And then the women went to Diana's fabric store and the men went to Best Buy (some for the 3rd time that day). I bought some fabric to make some window treatments and MaryAnn found fabric to re-do the cloth on her infant car seat. Good times were had by all. Jacob, Sam, Diana and I then made our way to Board Game Revolution where I think Jacob discovered his back-up plan for life. If this whole engineering thing doesn't work out I think he could easily work for them.

That concluded our shopping adventures for the day after Thanksgiving. We spent the rest of the day hangin' out, watching movies, playing games, and of course, eating.

With the exception of Jacob and I not feeling 100% healthy, our trip was pretty excellent. I was surprised at how smoothly our traveling went. Planes were on time, shuttle buses were prompt, and traffic was good. We were lucky...

And now I will not write a list of all the things I am thankful for but know they are many. And top on the list is my wonderful husband and family. Here are the pictures to show how wonderful. Well, maybe the pictures can't show how wonderful they are but they can show how cute. Enjoy!