Thanksgiving parts one and two

Such a fun, family-filled day:) I'm snuggling with Adara, so this post is mostly photos:

Part one at my house

Part two at my grandparents' house

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Countdown to Thanksgiving: day 13-close in-laws

Of course I forgot to take any photos today, but I'm very thankful for close in-laws in every sense of the word. I'm thankful that Adara loves going to play with her aunts and uncles, and that I got to finally confirm that my mother-in-law is going to watch Adara when I go to the hospital to give birth. (I just assumed that she would, and I'm very relieved that she can!) I'm thankful that they are only a 20 minute drive down the road, and that they enjoy spending time with us. I'm thankful that tonight I got to relax on the couch, socialize, and watch Adara have fun playing with family.

Here's and older photo of Adara having fun with some of the in-laws:

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Day 8-extra help

Today we threw a birthday party for Adara, and it wouldn't have been possible without the help from family. So many people donated decorations, helped clean up before and after, and got food and decorations out and up in record time. Adara had a wonderful time, and I'm so thankful for the people that made her party special.

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Day 3-Dollar Tree

Today I'm thankful for the Dollar Tree. I got some paper plates, cups, napkins, and a few other things for Adara's birthday part on Saturday. It was definitely the cheapest option! It's so fun getting things together for my toddler's party, especially when I can get a good deal!

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Day 2-Friends and Family

Today we celebrated Alex's birthday with family and friends! I'm super bummed that I forgot to snap some photos while we were at Alex's parents house because there were so many loved ones all in one place! I am very thankful for all of them, and they will probably be included in future posts.

Later our friends came over for food and fellowship. The guys played video games and the ladies watched the kiddos. Adara loves playing with her friend Emma, and they had a blast together. I'm very thankful for these friendships!

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Day 1-my husband

I'm starting a Countdown to Thanksgiving by saying one thing I'm thankful for every day leading up to Thanksgiving. I'm also going to take at least one photo, so I can have something to blog about consistently.

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. I'm so very thankful for him! He loves us very much and Adara clearly loves when they play together. We got to spend his birthday at home together, with nothing planned. It has been a very nice and relaxing day!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Whew. Starting tomorrow, I am back to tracking what I eat. But the past couple of days have been fun with family and eating yumminess.

Thursday I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and the house looked cleaner than it ever has before. I was exhausted. Then we went over to the in-laws for dinner and Alex worked on a computer-something for his mother, and we got to see Uncle John and Poppa.

Friday I worked at Hobby Lobby and it was boring but I am glad that I still have the job. Another person got fired yesterday. That makes three so far since I've started working. Granted, seasonal workers aren't guaranteed to work past holiday hours, but I'm thankful for every day that I have there. That's one more day closer to being completely debt-free!

After work I went back over to my wonderful in-law family to celebrate Christmas Eve. Sadly, I only got to wave goodbye to a few who were on their way out, but a good time nonetheless.

Christmas morning we got up at 6:30 and opened our presents to each other. Alex very thoughtfully bought me various girly presents-makeup, smell-good spray, a loofa, and a beautiful purple scarf. He also bought me shaving cream, with the promise to buy me more when I run out. He said I should be using that instead of soap because it's better. So I will :) I think we're setting up my elliptical machine tomorrow! I got him some different chocolate and candy, a "to go" mug for his coffee, a couple "best of" Abbott and Costello dvd's and he got an ipod. Great first Christmas with my husband.

Then we went over for a full day of Christmas fun with the Barberi's. Lacey and Justin joined us for breakfast and lunch. The girls got "Just Dance 2" for the Wii and we attempted to dance to all kinds of songs! There's a short video of us dancing up on facebook, so check it out if you want a good laugh. There's also a wonderful video that Uncle John made about being thankful and how Jesus Christ and relationships really are the reason for the season. He did a really great job.

We watched "Despicable Me" and "Paycheck" at two different times during the day. Both good movies; both ones I might watch again.

Alex and I received such wonderful gifts from everyone! We are so blessed by the people who love us. It has also been such a joy to see Poppa and Uncle John for the past couple of days-truly interesting and inspiring relatives.

Missing my grandparents and family that I didn't see, but i think we're going to try to Skype sometime maybe tomorrow.

What a wonderful Christmas-thanks to my Lord and Savior for such a wonderful life.

overly-blessed

Why do I ever worry about what we are going to eat? Isn't that something Jesus tells us NOT to do, because He's got us taken care of?

Well he definitely does.

Saturday was the Hobby Lobby Christmas party, and there was a lot of Turkey left over. So I took a plateful to make a casserole. The other ingredients in the casserole are already in the kitchen. Check off a couple of meals already.

I took some chicken out of the freezer, and then we didn't end up eating it the other day (we got Burger King instead, which comes from a different spending category) and now it is marinating in the fridge. Thanks to my wonderful mom, I now have a new, bigger George Foreman grill, so I can also make grilled chicken for a meal sometime.

My family came over for Christmas last night since they're leaving for North Carolina to be with my grandparents on Christmas day. I bought a ham from Aldi for us to eat, and we have a TON of leftovers. Not only does Alex want them in his lunch for his sandwich, but I'm using the bone and meat in the crock pot with some beans today for another meal.

So to wrap it up, the only things that I probably need to go grocery shopping for this week are apples and coffee, and only maybe coffee. The others are not necessary because we already have so much food! I'm not even sure we're going to eat it all, because some of the meals at the end of the week are at my in-laws house!

So I may not go for a "full" trip until next year. We really have enough leftovers to last us a couple of weeks!

Why do I worry? God's got me taken care of again and again and again.