Let the Thanksgiving Celebrations Begin...

Thanksgiving morning we started our celebrations by turning on the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade!  I LOVE watching it every year!

Brynn was too busy playing to watch much of the parade.

I love watching all the musical numbers and then switching the channels back and forth to the channels that just broadcast the actual parade and floats.

Lindsey and Curt came over that morning to watch the parade.

Every year for Christmas my mom makes "monkey bread" (I have no idea why she calls it that...).  Several years ago I found a recipe for a "chocolate" version.  You put a hershey kiss in each piece of biscuit.  I started making it on Thanksgiving morning while we watch the parade, and that has become our new tradition. 

Coffee with pumpkin spice creamer, chocolate monkey bread, and the Macy's parade...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  (Notice the fine dining table...aka ping pong table...we were watching the parade downstairs.)

Brynn was having fun playing and looking at our Mizzou Christmas tree.  (Yes, we put our trees up before Thanksgiving, and I love it!  I know some people don't like that, but I think it just makes me feel even more in the holiday spirit!)

After her morning nap we loaded up and headed to Aunt Soni's for Thanksgiving lunch with the Bandermann's.

Hanging out with Pamaw

Loving on Uncle Kyle

We had fun visiting and playing with Aunt Sarah and Ansley!  We took Brynn's pack n play, and while she napped (in cousin Mollie's bathroom no less...yes that was the quietest place...thank goodness Brynn is a good napper! HA!) Sarah and I had fun looking at all the Black Friday ads!
  

Then it was time to head back to Cape to my great aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family.  Several relatives hadn't seen Brynn yet and were so excited to meet her!

BIG FAMILY PICTURE...We were at my grandma's brother's house...he was there with his family, along with my grandma and all of our family, and several other of their siblings and family members.

One of my absolute FAVORITE holiday traditions on Thanksgiving is when we all sit around the piano and sing Christmas songs.  We always end with "The 12 Days of Christmas" and each person (or 2 or 3 people together) has a part to sing.  This year I requested "8 maids a milking"...get it?  Kind of the theme of my life right now! HA!  The funniest part is that I was paired up with my dad, and if you know me and my dad you know that neither one of us can sing a lick! HAHA!  Oh well....even though I'm not a very good singer I love this tradition and you better believe we belted our part out!  I think we were in the complete wrong key but it was still a blast.  Ryan is now used to our family's crazy singing tradition, but it was really funny to watch Curt (my sister's fiance) joining in. 

Brynn watched all the singing with Pawpaw!  She was so funny...clapping and making her little noises during the songs!

Later that night after Brynn and Ryan were in bed, I headed out to shop.  Actually, there wasn't anything I really needed or wanted to get, but some of my cousins were in town and Lindsey, Curt, and I went out to meet them at Walmart.  My mom wanted Lindsey to try to get some mattress cover, so I figured I'd experience the craziness with them all.  And WOW, it was CRAZY!  I have never seen it that bad.  People were fighting over towels, crockpots, and even kids pajamas!  I thought we were going to get trampled just waiting to get a mattress cover (which I ended up buying too by the way...it's amazing how the adrenaline and crazy people make you feel like you also need to buy something and join in the craziness).  Thankfully, we survived the chaos and made some fun and crazy memories along the way.

What a GREAT Thanksgiving Day!