Thanksgiving 2011

David and I had a great, although busy time in Little Rock for Thanksgiving. Because David took boards on Tuesday, November 22 and I had to work a full day, we didn't leave until Wednesday morning. We made it into town around 1:30 and me and Mom hit the shoppin trail while David worked on some dental stuff. Then David met us and we did even more Christmas shopping! We made a late reservation at the club and Tripp met us there for pasta bar! This was the beginning of "Eat-Fest 2011." This year we ate lunch at the Rainwater's house, so we got up bright and early on Thanksgiving day and headed right over after spending the night at Mom and Dad's. We hung out all morning, played with Shepherd and then ate a huge meal. Kathy had made a turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, hashbrown casserole, salad, pecan pie, and french silk pie, among other things. Here are some pictures from the morning/early afternoon...

About midway through the afternoon we switched houses and headed back to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving dinner. Tripp, being in charge of turkey for the entire United States with Walmart, had to go back to Fayetteville on Thanksgiving night so he could be at work on Friday. We enjoyed him while we had him and ate a relatively early dinner so he could get back at a decent time. Mom had outdone herself and made a brined turkey, dressing with chicken in it, green bean casserole, a honey ham, fruit salad, and lemon supreme cake. Yum! Here are some evening pictures...

Making the dressing...

We spent Thursday night at Mom and Dad's. On Friday morning we went down to the newest foot bridge that goes across the Arkansas river. The weather was perfect and it was so much fun. There were tons of people out, like everyone had suddenly had the same idea. Lots of Razorback gear was being worn as well. :)

The Razorback game. Yikes. The atmosphere went from joy and hopefullness, to sadness and reality. LSU beat the Razorbacks handedly. For just a little while it looked while we could hang in there, but they soon beat up on us pretty good. At about half-time we switched houses and went to the Rainwater's to finish watching the game. They lost, but hey, they're #8 in the BCS and still #1 in our hearts. :)

Saturday morning we got up EARLY and drove down to Ruston, LA to do Thanksgiving at David's grandmother's house. Lots of family was there. It was especially great to see David's cousin Elizabeth, her husband Ross, and their two sweet kids, Audrey and Jackson. Audrey loved Shepherd, even though he scratched her in the face accidentally. :) It was great to hang around, catch up, and eat more good food. One of the women who help take care of Kathy's mother told us that her mother wanted to make part of the meal for us...GOOD STUFF. Chicken and dumplings, more dressing, hot water corn bread, and sweet potato pie. Gluteny.

On the way back from Ruston we made a stop in Arkadelphia to see David's Dad's mother at the farm. She would never want us to leave empty handed so she sent David and Ben into the chicken coop...

We made it home with quite a haul, and I've already enjoyed a fresh egg and homemade muscadine jam.

Sunday was a great day at Immanuel, followed by lunch at a dual family favorite, Senior Tequilla. The seating arrangement turned out to be kind of laughable, but the food and company couldn't be beat.

Mom sat on David and I's side...

...and somehow Dad ended up inbetween Mike and Kathy!

Thanksgiving is such a teaser for Christmas! We loved every minute in Little Rock. I know we've said this a ton, but we are unbelievably thankful for our families. Blessed beyond measure.

The perfect storm

This has been a REALLY great weekend. Considering it's the weekend before one of the biggest tests of David's life, we have been really relaxed. Part of that comes from what happened this weekend in the football world. Good stuff...like really good.

The weekend started off on Friday with pizza and some relaxing at home. We also got to watch the previously ranked #2 OSU team lose. Good for Arkansas.

On Saturday we slept in a little bit and David went and got us donuts. I spent the morning at the grocery store and running some errands before I went to a play that a lot of the kids from school were in. It's with a company called Triiilogy (not a typo) that puts on plays. It was surprisingly good and the little girl from my class that was in it played a squirrel. Cutest squirrel you've ever seen?

I was really pleased to make it home for part of the Razorback game as well. I spent the rest of the evening watching foot ball and decorating for Christmas! I know, it's not Thanksgiving yet, but we usually get our Christmast stuff up before we go home for Thanksgiving so we can come back to a "Christmas house." This year, because of boards, we won't be able to get our tree up before we head home, so I got everything else put up! I loved doing it and made a few little changes.

The kitchen table...I added the hanging ornaments and got some new, great sprigs from Hobby Lobby for 50% off!

Mantle...the only new things are a couple new picks (also purchased at 50% off!)

The entry table...

The title of this post is "the perfect storm," the the perfect storm started brewing this weekend. Basically, every team that could have lost to move Arkansas up in the BCS, lost. OSU, OU, and Oregon. We are really anticipating tonight at 8:15 when the new BCS rankings are revealed and hopefully show an SEC sweep of the top three spots...#1 LSU, #2 Alabama, #3 Arkansas. Now, all of the sudden, Arkansas is in talks concerning the national championship...which is great with us! We can't believe it. What would REALLY make the perfect storm? An Arkansas victory this next week against LSU and a poor showing for Alabama at Auburn. It's a tall order...but hey, perfect storms happen sometimes right? Some might say that this Friday's game is now, THE GAME TO WATCH. Enjoy this article about the upcoming BCS standings by clicking the link.

"The REAL Game of the Century."

We stayed up WAY too late watching football. Here I am watching the OU game on TV and the Oregon game on my phone.

Today I got to go see the new Twilight movie with my great friend Katherine. We got home from church, made some quick sandwiches for the road, and made it just in time for the 1:35 showing on the plaze. We were munching down on snuck-in sandwiches and apples right as the previews started! Thanks for going with me Katherine!

I somehow forgot to take a picture of these great trees that mom got me. I decided to put them in David's study room so he could have some of the Christmas cheer.

...and vision of sugar-plums danced through his head...

We're really looking forward to a great Thanksgiving week.

Updates

I didn't blog this weekend! That's because things have been so busy, but it's mainly just the normal "stuff" of life. However, here are some of the things that have gone on since I last blogged about Arkansas beating S. Carolina...

Recently my Dad received a very prestigious award and I wanted to make note of it on the blog. My Dad is a member of a national organization called the Association of General Contractors. They gave my Dad the "Distinguished Service Award," which is the highest honor they can bestow upon one of their members. What makes this even more special is that my Dad is the youngest member to ever receive this award and my grandfather, Papaw, received this same award almost 8 years ago before he passed away. To say the least, I'm proud of my Dad. He's a hard worker, honest, God-fearing, always learning, always teaching, looking out for everyone else kind-of man and I am more than lucky to have him as a father. Congratulations Dad!

David has been doing LOTS of studying. Boards are 6 days away!...WE WILL MAKE IT. Between hosting gospel group, leading cheer practices again, and keeping up with our home stuff...we've been pretty busy. Sooie has done her part and helped David study...sort of...

In my down time I was able to get my Hog cross-stitch done! I think it turned out pretty good for not having a pattern to follow. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it. :)

Tripp had a wedding to go to in KC this weekend so he drove up on Saturday. We didn't get to see him much on Saturday, but we got some really nice quality time in on Sunday. I always love having him in town and just getting to hang out.

David and I stayed in Saturday night, grilled chicken and made sweet potato fries to watch the Hogs REALLY beat Tennessee. Our piggies are now ranked 6th in the BCS. Wooo pig Sooie!

Winner winner chicken dinner

This Saturday morning David and I got up and drove down to Fayetteville to the Arkansas/South Carolina game. The game and tailgate was so much fun and the Hogs won! Three of my four best friends from college were in town so we were all able to meet up and tailgate a little together.

Lauren and I accidentally wore the same red sweater...oops! :)

Me, Lauren and Katherine with our husbands...

Best friends.

Pastor Steve and Mary were down in Fayetteville with some Arkansas friends and we were able to see them and show them our tailgate! What a treat.

A great night under the lights!

Tusk em!

Me and Mom were cold!

We left Sunday morning and made it back for the 11:00 service at church and it's on to another week!