Thanksgiving in the South

Most years during the Thanksgiving holiday, my family would rent a house at SunRiver or Black Butte and we would all caravan over and stay for 5 days. It always included lots of card and video game playing, way too much food and hilarious late-night moments. So, we knew right away that there was no way this year’s celebration could measure up to those of years past. But, thankfully, some friends of ours from church (whose family is all in Colorado) invited us to spend the day with them at their neighbors house. So, we accepted. I knew it would be difficult being far away from my family on a holiday that is usually so rich with tradition for us, but at least we wouldn’t be at home by ourselves.

We went over to their house around noon and let the kids play before nap-time (they have three kids – ages 10, 2½ and 18 mos.). Then, while they were sleeping, we made place cards and started preparations for the big meal. Their neighbors were roasting a turkey in the oven and in addition to that, they also deep-fried a smaller one outside (see pictures below). We had never seen this done before, so it was interesting to us…and apparently, very common here in the South. I made garlic mashed potatoes and homemade rolls and there were probably a dozen other side dishes, as well. It was a nice dinner and their neighbors, whom we had never met before, were so gracious to invite us into their home and let us join their meal. In fact, they even bought a gingerbread house kit for the smaller kids to put together and decorate, which Lauren absolutely loved (although, I think more of the candy ended up in her mouth than on the house).











































The next morning, I woke up bright and early to join two of my girlfriends on a shopping trip down to Gaffney, SC. We met at 4:30am for breakfast and then drove over an hour to the most amazing outlet mall I’ve ever been to. The best part about it was the Pottery Barn Outlet. I could have spent all day just in that store alone…and we got some great deals, so it was really worth getting up early for. We had a fun day of shopping and fellowshipping, but after 12 hours on my feet, I was exhausted!! While I was gone, Ryan had a great father-daughter day with Lauren and managed to put up the Christmas lights on the house (pictures coming soon). We all went to bed early that night to catch up on some much-needed sleep after a busy weekend!