turkey time rolled around faster than normal this year.\u00a0 it seems like just yesterday we were basking in the sun in the bahamas, and now we’re freezing our fannies off and stuffing turkeys!<\/p>\n
we loaded up the car last week and headed out west to waynesville.\u00a0 will and i were mesmerized by the sunset we encountered on the first part of our journey.\u00a0 it was the most amazing thing i have ever seen.\u00a0 however, after the sun went down it was just traffic, darkness,\u00a0and tail lights.\u00a0 the dogs behaved themselves in the car, despite the unbearable stop and go traffic we encountered on 40 west.\u00a0 we pigged out on some junk food that i always justify eating when i am in the car on a road trip.\u00a0 somehow that bag of spree just did not count when i was in the car.\u00a0 thank goodness i do not take road trips often.\u00a0 we arrived in waynesville around 10pm and got the 23lb bird into the brine.<\/p>\n
after the turkey brining experience we headed into the living room so ethan could let us open our “on-line purchase” of a bouncy ball off his website.\u00a0 i scored the lime green bouncy ball a few weeks back but could not justify mailing in the quarter so i told him we would do the exchange around turkey time.\u00a0 ethan had wrapped the ball up inside a “free” yellow display kit, included two free game cards, and an invoice.\u00a0 we got a kick out of the whole thing.<\/p>\n
thursday morning came quickly and we got up to start the festivities.\u00a0 we helped ma white prepare all of the thanksgiving fare and got the turkey in the oven.\u00a0 we watched the asheville parade while we were covered to our elbows in tasty morsels.\u00a0 pa white supplied us all with delicious wines so we could really get the celebration going.\u00a0 when lunch time came we were certainly ready to partake in all of the yummy goodness!\u00a0 we had quite the feast!\u00a0 pa white carved the juicy and delicious turkey and set it on the table with green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, stuffed militon, cranberry sauce, carrot souffle, cranberry salad, waldorf salad, asparagus, deviled eggs (or as ethan would call them – “eggs with the devil in them”), and shrimp cocktail.\u00a0 yummo!\u00a0 we all stuffed ourselves until we could hardly waddle away from the table.<\/p>\n
later that night we enjoyed each other’s company while playing some board games.\u00a0 its so\u00a0hilarious to hear your seven year old nephew pronounce words that you do not even understand the meaning to.\u00a0 that kid is brilliant.\u00a0 funny too.\u00a0 we had all the fun we could stand, and called it a night.<\/p>\n
friday morning we slept in and for once, i did not go out to get my bargain hunting on.\u00a0 i checked in with dad a few times during the day to see how his bargain shopping was going, but he was disappointed with his finds.\u00a0 bummer.\u00a0 after we got up we headed into downtown asheville to the grove park inn.\u00a0 its an annual tradition that at either thanksgiving or christmas, we head on over to check out the gingerbread houses.\u00a0 this year we got to partake in their most amazing lunch buffet in the blue ridge dining room.\u00a0 the views of the mountains are amazing and we really enjoyed the spread.\u00a0 meri got her fill of cherries and i think i ate my weight in lobster bisque and smoked salmon.\u00a0 after lunch we headed out to the large porch on the back of the inn to sit in the sunshine and enjoy the view.\u00a0 will and i always love this relaxing time.\u00a0 after hanging out and watching the kids run off some energy, we all headed inside to view the gingerbread house winners.\u00a0 ethan made sure to snap a photo of every single gingerbread house, and it was a very serious matter.\u00a0 we’ve got quite a little photographer on our hands!<\/p>\n
saturday morning we headed with lynn and the kids to the sapphire mines.\u00a0 here we watched them dig through a pickle bucket of dirt to locate some actual sapphires.\u00a0 meri was about done with the entire project in about 10 minutes, but ethan could have sat there looking for “gems” for an eternity.\u00a0 he really liked me taking photos of his finds.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 later that evening will, lynn, pa white, and myself headed out to a pub for some kool-aids.\u00a0 everyone else settled in on their favorite beers, and i went for my favorite vodka tonic.\u00a0 i had a craving for nachos (i do not know where these things come from, but i just have to go with them), but the catch was that the nachos had to have EXTRA jalapenos.\u00a0 pa white was on my team and helped me search up and down main street for a pub that had nachos with jalapenos on the menu.\u00a0 so, when we ordered our kool-aids i told the waitress i also wanted the LARGEST PLATE OF NACHOS she’d ever seen, along with EXTRA JALAPENOS!\u00a0 she politely obliged and delivered.\u00a0 we all loved our crazy pub food and beverages and had some great bonding time.<\/p>\n
sunday came quickly and we packed up all of our possessions and headed back across the state – thankful for another year together – thankful for each other – thankful for family – thankful for love – thankful for life – thankful for what’s to come.<\/p>\n\n\t\t