Many Blessings to be Thankful For

Do you have any fun Thanksgiving traditions that you can’t get enough of? I do. For Thanksgiving every year, we have about a million people at my Grandma’s house. You get to grab a spot on the floor and call it your room for the weekend ha ha. It is wonderful to be surrounded by so many people you love. So… what did we do for Thanksgiving this year? We went to my Grandma’s house and it seemed as if our extended family doubled over night.  We had so many people missing too, our family is huge!

Everyone in Grandma's living room

Our adventures started Wednesday afternoon when we decided to take the long journey (6.5 hours) to Nyssa Oregon. We were a little worried with the rumors of a major storm passing through the area we were going. My little sister rode with us and Carter loved having her there, so much so that he didn’t really even take a nap. We listened to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and rocked out to some tunes. Carter was even joining in on some of it. There was a little snow, but nothing what we thought it was going to be like. We had lots of fun.

When we got to Nyssa, we ate a delicious dinner and stayed up until none of the adults could keep their eyes open. Luckily we didn’t quite have to pick a spot on the floor, but we were in the piano room. It doesn’t have a door, and we had some cute little boys giggling, eating, and not sleeping right next to us. It didn’t really help that Carter was coughing up a storm all night too. It was awesome when we woke up on the floor (the air mattress leaked all its air out) taco style in the middle of the night. I will always remember the crazy Thanksgiving at grandma’s house 2015 J

How the house looked every night. I loved visiting with everyone!

Thanksgiving day we made preparations for the incredible feast, the men watched football, and I didn’t see Carter hardly at all. He was in heaven with all of his second cousins, running around. I loved watching him play. I was so excited when it finally came time to eat, but I was not excited for what happens after everyone eats dinner… the kids go straight for the pie! This time I saved a little bit of room so I at least got one piece lol. Actually this year we had a plethora of pies. I think the final count was 35! We stayed at grandma’s house until 10pm and headed to my uncles house who lives like 100 ft away lol. We got our own room and this time, we actually slept yay! It was so nice of my little brother to give up his bed, and my uncle to have us there. We were happy campers.

Us before going to bed in a bed! ha ha, we were happy

Have you ever gone black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving? It’s really not black Friday, more like black Thursday but I can say I have. My sister saw a deal she couldn’t pass up and Jason has never been to black Friday before and so I agreed to go. NEVER AGAIN! It was insane to see so many people and how rude and crazy they get. I thought we were safe being in Ontario Oregon, but now I know to think twice when someone asks me to go. We were herded like animals through the store and so many people were cranky. Not the best way to spend your day being thankful if you ask me. 

Our thoughts on Black Thursday shopping (we didn't take Carter)

The rest of the weekend consisted of a super nice hike/walk, the boys going shooting, visiting with cousins that are getting way too old and recently got married, bowling, eating lunch at Goodwood, and enjoying the wonderful blessing of a giant family. I love everything about the family I have been given, and am so thankful for the bonds that we share. Yeah… Ballantynes are pretty much the BEST!

Us on our walk 

Well, we made it home safe. Now it’s time to get into the craziness of Christmas! It should be good for my book business though, I ordered inventory for my booth and we’ll see how it goes. I also have major plans to spend lots of time with my big bro before him and his cute family move to Washington in February.  I can’t wait! Happy reading!