Thanksgiving Break

Dan and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break this year! It was full of family, good food, and lots of fun!! We really owe a big thank you to both of our families for always spoiling us and making the holidays so fun!!

We left our house on Wednesday morning to head up to families house. We had to stop at Culver's on the way! My very favorite flavor of custard is pumpkin pie, and they only have it the day before Thanksgiving. We of course had to stop to get a taste! It was delicious, as always :)

This year we spend Thanksgiving with the Kolts clan. My brother and his wife and family came down from Oregon, and it was lots of fun to see them! My two sisters who live close by also came with their families. We had a nice full house, and it was fun to visit and eat delicious food :)

YUMMY!!!

Dan and I, plus all the girls, also went Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving evening. We went to Kohl's, Target, and Walmart and found some great deals! Dan and I ended up getting a lot of stuff that we weren't planning on, but at great prices! We bought a new camera, which I'm so excited for!! We both have been wanting a better camera to take pictures and video of our growing family, and we couldn't pass one up that was 150 dollars off!! We also got some other great deals, allowing us to nearly finish our Christmas shopping!

On Friday morning my parents had planned some really fun activities for the kids, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. It included making a 'grossmas' tree. Basically, we took a dead pine tree, stuck chewed up gum to the trunk, made ornaments from chewed gum, then added tinsel and ribbon to dress it up. It was lots of fun and the kids all thought it was pretty cool!!

Then we went to Clem's, which is the weirdest store in the world. But they have Christmas trees for 1.89 a yard. They are kind of spindly and sparse, and Dan and I both love them!! They have so much character and look so rustic and awesome once they are decorated!! We are planning on decorating it tonight!

The tree we picked out!

We then spent a few days and Dan's parent's home. Of course I forgot to take pictures, but we had lots of fun! We went and saw Big Hero 6, ate great food, talked, relaxed, did some Christmas shopping, but mostly just enjoyed the company! It was a great time.

Saturday night my family had our Kolts' family Christmas party, which my mom planned! It was awesome! It was Elf-themed (as in Elf, the movie) and was really fun! Here are some pictures from the evening:

I made the little elf feet at the center of the tables!

World's best cup of hot cocoa!

the Photobooth!

By the way, if you are thinking it looks like my stomach exploded in this picture...well it did. Dan and I are both convinced it grew two or three times its normal size, just over Thanksgiving break!

Santa Clause also showed up to the Christmas party, and brought presents for all of the kids!

Thanksgiving break was great! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it welcomes in the Christmas season and marks the beginning of all the festivities!! Dan and I are lucky to have great family to celebrate with!! Now, its back to school for 2 weeks, then finals for Dan, and we will be free for Christmas break! I can't believe how fast this year has gone!