Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving morning we woke up and I made "chocolate monkey break" for breakfast.  I've done that the last few years and I LOVE it!  We eat it while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...love that tradition!  This year instead of making it in the bundt pan, I made "mini" ones.  

Somebody hung out with me in the kitchen while I cooked.  =)

I put hershey kisses in each bite and they are DELICIOUS...but Ryan thinks it makes it too chocolate-y so I make some without.

Emory took a nap, and we headed downstairs to watch the parade!

It was our turn to do Thanksgiving with my family, and it worked out that my mom was hosting.  That worked out SO WELL, considering they have a crib and swing, etc. We headed over around noon for lunch.  We were the first ones there so we decided to take a couple of family pictures.

Before we ate, we all stood around and held hands (as is tradition) and had a Thanksgiving prayer.  I couldn't help but snap some pics.

And HOW PRECIOUS IS THIS?  I highly doubt she had her eyes closed very long, but I caught it!  Good old Uncle Melvin and Brynn holding hands...

Lunch was AMAZING!

Pawpaw got some snuggle time!

One of my FAVORITE traditions is playing games and singing songs.  Every year on Thanksgiving we sit around and sing Christmas carols.  We end the Christmas songs by singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and everyone (or pairs) gets a part.  Most of my mom's family is SO MUSICAL, but thanks to my Dad's genes I am NOT a very good singer.  Oh well...I love belting it out with everyone and Kelly and I even sang the "Three French Hens" part all by ourselves!

After singing we played some "Catch Phrase".  We always end up laughing so hard we could cry and this year was NO EXCEPTION.  One of the funniest parts of the whole game was when my Grandpa got stuck on the word "wuss" (as in "wimp")  He swore he had never heard that word in his whole life...WHAT?  If you know my Grandpa, he kept saying "Good night...I never even heard of that!" We were all ROLLING AND CRYING we were laughing so hard...it was just one of those things that got funnier and funnier!  I LOVE MY FAMILY!

After naps, we headed out to Ryan's Aunt Kim's house to stop by since we weren't there for lunch.  Everyone was scrambling around eating leftovers and mapping out their "Black Friday" shopping, which was actually going to start later that night.  (So I forgot to take pictures).  We took the girls home and then Ryan put them to bed and I went out with Pam and Sarah to do some shopping.  It was fun, even though I wasn't going to get anything...I just wanted to get out and see the craziness.  And my sister-in-law even did some Black Friday shopping at WALGREENS...(hilarious!) and taught me her coupon secrets.   We got toothpaste, toothbrushes, chapstick, hair-ties, hairspray, body wash, contact lens solution, lotion, etc. for like $6.50!!!!!!!!!!  It was such a fun day!  We have so much to be thankful for and Thanksgiving was a wonderful day celebrating!