we gave thanks

andrew and i held up our holiday tradition and hosted thanksgiving for both sides of our families this year in our new itty bitty 2 bedroom home.  it was really wonderful and cozy, if you ask me.  everyone we love was there under one roof, walking across our creaky floors, taking turns pouring wine, offering one another yet another scotch-a-roo (my mom's famous recipe), and getting their fare share of slobbery smooches from a puckered up stella who was most definitely in the giving mood.

that chalkboard up there was written on by andrew, who was adorably giddy when i got home with a new box of chalk from the craft store.  surprisingly he asked, "can i be in charge of the quote for thanksgiving?"  i melted.  and of course squealed, "yes!"

lets move on from me gushing about my man and discuss's dinner, shall we?  this family dinner had everything you could imagine for dinner...all harry potter style (or at least that's how it was in my mind) with the traditional bird covered a crispy citrus salt, spicy sausage and fennel stuffing, sweet potato pie ala marshmallows, mashed red potatoes, green bean and mushroom casserole, sweet rolls, chipotle cranberry sauce, seven layer salad, and homemade turkey gravy. 

 our bellies are still full from all those holiday treats and are happy for having been fed very well. 

last year for thanksgiving, stella had her very first bite of solid food.  it was really precious and quite appropriate having her milestone of eating solids on one of my favorite days EVER- centered around food of course.  as for this year, she devoured everything right down to the itty bitty pieces of cranberries strewn all over her plate, making her mama proud.  that's two for two little one!  and we found out she likes stuffing a lot too, as evident from her many leftover meals consisting of the reheated side-dish.

after eating and stretching our forgiving waste bands, we went down to the plaza to watch the ever so famous lighting, where we counted down and hugged each other tight as the fireworks and christmas lights ushered in the holiday season.  

*note: fireworks in november are always a good idea.

then we scooted on back to have some pie, more wine, and laughs.  thanksgiving was very good to us this year, and we are thankful for that!  and in case you were wondering, most of our family pictures look like this...

tired, squirmy babes make picture time fuuuun.  ;)