Thanksgiving and Beyond

Yesterday Matt got up nice and early to start the annual turkey. We have never had the task of making the turkey, but Matt volunteered because he wanted to give it a try. He made an injectable marinade and got the turkey all ready Wednesday night. I had gotten all my side dishes made on Wednesday so I didn't have to get up super early yesterday.

After the turkey was finished, we loaded up the truck with the food and ourselves, and made the short trip to my mom's house. When we arrived, the house smelled delicious. We added our food to be heated to the oven, and Matt began carving the turkey. Once Dana arrived, we sat down and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

Of course after the meal, I was exhausted, so I napped along with Mikayla. Matt, Ben and Joel went outside with their bow and arrows, and Ben with his paint gun, to shoot at a target Matt brought. They had a great afternoon while I slept.

When we got up, we watched an ice skating special on TV until it was time to leave. Matt's family goes to a local Christmas Wonderland every Thanksgiving evening. We brought our leftovers home, and then loaded up to head to Ronnie's Christmas World. Mikayla loved all of the Christmas decorations and lights. It was fun for her now that she is older.

After the tour of Ronnie's, we came back to Matt's parents house to have a small plate of leftovers for dinner, and then came home and all crashed. We were all tired from a long day.

This morning, I didn't rise with the masses at 4am or 5am, but I did get out around 9. I spent the day shopping all of the great deals, but with not as much of a crowd. I got most of my Christmas shopping finished in one day, and had fun doing it. By 3pm, I was tired and sore, and Mikayla needed a nap, so we headed home. We are now relaxing at home, waiting for daddy to arrive so we can eat dinner. It was a great couple of days.

Prepared for Change

We have gathered all of the supplies needed for our part of Thanksgiving, and tomorrow I will begin cooking and baking. We will be spending the day with my mom and siblings. My mom and I split the menu and Matt is making the turkey. Because he has to cook that on Thursday morning, I am cooking and baking tomorrow so I am out of his way.

We shopped yesterday for all of the ingredients and Mikayla had a blast helping load the cart. She picked out all of the sweet potatoes, and helped put all of the other ingredients in the cart. She sang and talked to all of the other people in the store.

Now she is asleep in mine and Matt's bed. I think this is our new routine. She goes right to sleep without any playing around, and we can still talk and watch TV without disturbing her. Hopefully it will help break her in before we move and put her in a bed there. My little girl is growing up.

Family Pictures

Matt had today off again. Besides it being shotgun season, he has several days left to use before the end of his anniversary time at work. His year begins and ends in November because that is the month he started working at Burris. If he doesn't use his vacation time, he loses it, so he has taken several days off in the last two weeks. It works out well so he can hunt during his time off.

We took advantage of this day off by scheduling last minute family pictures. A friend who is a photographer worked us into her schedule today. Thanks Laura! We met her at a local park, thinking outdoor pictures would be nice. Boy did it get cold today! The last few days have been pretty warm, but today was very windy and chilly.

We had to do pictures in the shade to that we weren't squinting into the sun, so we were even colder! Mikayla usually smiles tons when she sees a camera, but today, she was more interested in the playground behind us. We told her she could play after we did pictures and she didn't cry, but she just really wanted to play.

We haven't seen the pictures yet, but I'm sure at least one will come out decent for our Christmas card. After pictures, we went to a local coffee shop to warm up. It is such a nice cozy place and we think we will be spending some more time there.

Tonight, we are going to my Mom's house for dinner. It will be a nice time with family. Well I guess I should say we are going if Matt does not get a deer tonight. He is hunting right now actually. We should be able to leave when he comes in around 5:30. If he gets a deer, we will be eating apple pie for dinner. I have no plans for dinner since my mom invited us over. I was in charge of dessert, so all we have is apple pie.

I'm not sure which I would prefer...Matt getting a deer and apple pie for dinner, or Matt not getting a deer and pot roast for dinner. Guess we will have to wait and see.

More Catch Up

We are now halfway through November, and I can't believe how quickly time is going. Hopefully the quick synopsis of our lives so far won't leave me upset when looking back this time next year.

I have begun to feel baby Krupka kicking so much more now. I used to only feel movement at night and nothing much during the day, but now the baby seems to have figured out the difference between day and night. For that I am thankful.

We are in the waiting process concerning our house. It is looking more and more like we will be living in the apartment with two children. As time ticks by, the due date grows closer, and I have just come to terms with the prospect. It won't be easy, but the Lord has a plan and I am trying to rest in that knowledge.

I will try to be diligent to keep more up to date with blogging so that there are more details in each blog rather than a summary.

Baby Madyson Visits

Today we had a friend and her little girl come for lunch. Mikayla loved to see the baby and kept wanting to hold her. We finally decided she could handle it and we let her hold her

Mikayla did a great job holding Madyson and I am confident she will be a great older sister.