Turkey Time

I figured I'd better hurry up and get my Thanksgiving "recap" post up before I was tangled in the mass of Christmas festivities!

Thanksgiving week/weekend was a blast.  I flew up to Washington late Tuesday night and my sweet mother picked me up from the airport even though that meant she had to wait till the 12:15am ferry to get home.  Before we even got on the ferry (which is about a half hour ride) she was losing her left eye to sleep (a little inside joke)!!  So we made it home safe and sound and almost headed to bed.  First I had to pump up my bed with the miracle pump and we watched Biggest Loser; apparently she wasn't that tired since it was her idea!

Wednesday we had a lazy morning in and Mike, Timbra and Alani (M/T/A) came up for breakfast while we were all getting fancied up for family pictures.  Later in the day we went back over to Seattle side to meet up with Bill and Justin for our family picks; have to make sure everyone is there!  The photo shoots didn't take too long and afterwards we had some tasty fish and chips before heading back to the island for the evening.  Once home baking commenced; Timbra and I handled the Thanksgiving desserts while mom did some breakfast prep.

The Boys watching something on TV

My Pie Crust; wanna guess the secret ingredient? 

Thursday was the big day; fortunately we were blessed with another lazy morning because we didn't have anywhere to rush off to!  Though not too much sleeping in because I had the "special bed" (if you've seen Dan in Real Life you might understand) in the living room; and Justin was sleeping in the living room as well.  Things were being cooked and baked all day; turkeys being roasted; potatoes being peeled; things being chopped, mixed and tasted!  Of course we stared out the day with our traditional breakfast!  My assigned food for Thanksgiving dinner was the Mashed Potatoes; I had such an awesome little helper.  Alani was there to pick up any potato peel that managed to miss the garbage and land on the floor; an then a few actual chunks of potato that shot off the cutting board (I must confess a few times I sent potato peels onto the floor because she was just too cute and too eager to be of assistance!)  Dinner was a smashing success; we all filled up on some super tasty food and of course enjoyed some good laughs and funny moments around the table (which is exactly what I'm thankful for; my whole family together making each other laugh!).  After dinner we lazed around for the rest of the evening enjoying various desserts and a game of Phase 10.

Al watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Dinner Time

Friday was yet another lazy morning and after Breakfast Bill and Justin headed back to Seattle to pick Grandma up.  Mom, Timbra and I headed to BG (Bainbridge Gardens) to get some cookies and hot chocolate and wander around looking at all the cute holiday stuff (Thank goodness we didn't spend too much time outside of the apartment before Thanksgiving otherwise I might have had a panic attack by all the Christmas stuff that was around!)  Later in the day we went to Mom and Bills house to check out the progress; last time I was there I saw a cruise ship sailing by; I was standing in the driveway and they water is on the back side of the house (no walls).  So I was very surprised to see walls and windows and paint all there; it looks great.  Plus I always enjoy checking up on my puppies!  That night we all hung out at the community room at the apartments and played games and pool and enjoyed some of Mike's famous pizza, followed of course by some of mom's famous cheesecake for Justin's birthday!

Update on House

Playing some Card

Saturday we had breakfast at Doc's which has the best omelets ever, and then we had to say a farewell to M/T/A as they headed home.  The rest of us wandered around downtown because they were having their Holiday Open house.  At one point there were carolers sining outside one of the shops singing a special rendition of Angels We Have Heard on High that went a little something like this as the chores:

Solar power inexpensive energy

That evening we headed back to town for the Christmas tree lighting and a sneak peek at Santa; followed by a stop at the best BBQ place in the world!  After we got back to the apartment we decided to watch Elf but couldn't find the DVD (it snuck home with M/T/A); as luck would have it though it was starting on TV at the exact same time!

Santa; I Know Him

Sunday morning Bill headed back to Seattle to take Justin to the airport and Grandma to the train station.  Mom and I snuck in a few rounds of Canasta before heading off to see Twilight and then back for a few more rounds of cards with Bill before hitting the Ferry.  Then I was off to the airport.  

It was an awesome trip and I loved getting to spend so much time with our family all together; since we live in 3 different stats (4 if you count grandma) it's not often that we can all be together!  For a more detailed photo experience watch the slideshow below; blogger isn't being my friend at the momen!