Turkey Day and Prep

We are definitely approaching the most wonderful time of the year!  I love the holiday season.  Even though it gets crazy, chaotic, and hectic at times, it is STILL one of my favorite times of the year.  Fortunately for me, none of the craziness has quite hit with full force yet and only the fun and festivities have been ringing through.  

We've had the excitement and anticipation of a visit from my mom and 3 of my siblings to look forward to for the last few weeks and then last weekend, the fun kicked off unexpectedly earlier when Scott and Ethan joined my brother-in-law on Saturday to cheer the cougars on in the BYU-Notre Dame football game at South Bend.  

 Cute little Ethan before he froze completely to death.

Putting on a brave face partway through the game. 

Scott headed over to Kristin's on Friday night with Ethan, Grace, and Sophie in tow while I stayed home to man {or woman} the fort with the two little ones.  Grace and Sophie were thrilled to spend the weekend with Hannah, while Ethan and Scott drove over to the game with Blake on Saturday morning for what was apparently the coldest home game in Notre Dame history.  Or something like that.  Hahaha.  I'm getting my "facts" from Ethan, so they're either incredibly accurate or I have misunderstood him completely.  Scott said the wind chill at kick-off was 9 degrees and by the time the game was coming to a close Ethan was crying from the cold.  They waited out the 4th quarter in one of the heated restrooms and then after the game was over met up with my brother Freddie {who had also gone to the game} and took him back with them to Kristin's and then on home to us on Sunday morning.  

 Helping with a Costco run.  If only I could depend on my children to bring everything in for me each time I go...

 Getting prepped for the big day!

It was fun having Freddie here for a few more extra days than he would have been otherwise and it was super helpful to having him around to help entertain kids and clean up all their messes.  Scott took Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off of work and while the kids were still at school on Monday and Tuesday, I took full advantage of the time to run lots and lots of errands by myself {grocery shopping without dragging kids along is a luxury} and treated myself for all my hard work with a hair appointment on Tuesday afternoon.

 Shameless selfie at the hair salon.

Mom, Amy, and Jacob made it here safely on Tuesday night and the Thanksgiving party officially started once we were all together under the same roof again.  Fun has been had, games have been played, and stories have been told as we've spent this holiday season together.  Being with family is the best.  And one of the particular best things about a Hansen family Thanksgiving is that we always eat early {none of this supper time fare -- the turkey is served at noon!} and we tend to sample things as they become ready {as in half the French Apple Pie I made for Thanksgiving day was eaten on Wednesday night around 9}.  Hahaha.  

French Apple Pie -- courtesy of my friend Leia over at Eat it and Say Yum.  It was delicious.  Definitely a pie we will be repeating for next year.  Although next year we will need to make two.  :)

Our Thanksgiving morning was started off bright and early today when I woke up around 3 in the morning and discovered that Jane had somehow made her way into our bed and was nestled in between Scott and I, sound asleep and snoring and oblivious to the fact that she was taking over both of our spaces.  I managed to fall somewhat back asleep, but the morning was started for good a little before 6 when Alex -- our roommate while company is in town -- woke up and tried to make a run for it so he could wake everyone else up to play.  I managed to hold them both off until a more reasonable hour of 7 before letting them go downstairs while I got breakfast and then the rolls started for the day.

 Hahaha.  This picture that Scott snapped with his phone cracks me up.  Apparently Alex and I were the only ones who got the memo to wear striped pajamas last night and apparently we all look REALLY concerned while watching a Behind the Scenes special on the making of the new Sound of Music production starring Carrie Underwood on live TV.  

 Aunt Kristin's crescent roll recipe was a special request from the kiddos.

 Little helping hands.

 {And my mom wins super granny award for all the games she's played with the kids this week.}

 Lovely centerpiece created by mom with some lemons and greenery she found outside.

 Lovely tableware set by Jane who was a super helper with the task.

 Jacob and Amy -- our poor little invalids.  Jacob is still recovering from a concussion he suffered playing football a few weeks ago and Amy has been sick with a head cold the whole time she's been here.  {Being sick on vacation is the worst!}

 Grace and Freddie

Crazy hair on Alex courtesy of Grace.

Our tie-dyed flower child chowing down on Thanksgiving dinner.  {Which for the record I ate while still in pajamas and glasses.  Hashtag I love an informal dinner.}

Once our meal was eaten, everyone branched out and did their own thing for a few hours.  Some people napped {such as myself}, some people watched football, and other people watched movies or did whoever else knows what.  Once Alex woke up from his nap, however, I decided it was now or never if we were going to attempt a family picture while we still had people in town to take it for us.  So, after giving Scott a SUPER quick haircut and getting everyone else ready to go, we dashed out in the nick of time before we lost the light for the day.  The end result?  The easiest, fastest, most painless family picture we have ever taken!  No lie.  It helped that I had already arranged the position I wanted everyone to stand in for color balance sake, and mom's suggestion of bringing a stool was perfect for raising the height of Sophie and Jane while we had Amy snap away.  Ethan was excited that we got to use our thrift store tripod and I was excited that the pictures actually seemed to have turned out really great! 

Ethan was easily the most excited when I brought this $8 tripod home from the thrift store a couple of months ago.

 Setting up the shot.  I kind of love Jane's facial expression here.  And her owl sweater.  Hahaha.

 Mom helped to tame Alex's crazy Grace hair.

Here are the fruits of our labor:

 Notice the death grip Sophie has on Alex's chin.

 And the expression on her face here as well.  Hahaha.

 Aren't they just too cute for words?

 Awww.  The Lovebirds.

 My personal favorite shot of the day.

 And photo-bombed by Grace.

 She really wanted to be in the shot.

 Final front porch shot for mom.  I've grown a halo.  Rightly so.  Not.  Hahahahaha.

I have no idea how I did this, but I love it!!!  Hahahahaha.

And there you have it! The anatomy of a Thanksgiving vacation.  The only sad part about it is the ending.  Mom, Freddie, Amy and Jacob have to leave tomorrow morning, but I'm SOOOO glad they drove up to be with us.  If only we could all live near each other! Then the party would NEVER stop.  Hahahaha.  :)