Gobble Gobble!!!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend! I know we did! Of course it came with all the stress excitement of both sides of family in town and having to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal for 9 people...but still, it was fun!
I was able to wiggle my way into a vacation day on Wednesday so Tyler stayed home from school and Ben worked from home! Meanwhile...I prepped food. By prepping, I mean chopping and chopping and more chopping...

Wednesday afternoon, Ben's parents arrived. Ben had a conference call so Tyler and I headed to the Marta station to go pick them up.
That evening we took them to our favorite Alpharetta spot Sip for dinner. They loved it! If you live in North Atlanta or are ever in the area, I HIGHLY recommend it for good eats (and drinks when you're not preggers).
Wednesday night, Ben's sis Kate and her hubby Matt arrived, but they didn't get in until late and Tyler and I were both in our respective beds by then.
Then it was THANKSGIVING DAY! We woke up with a breakfast of bagels and then back to cooking. Tyler amused himself with the grandparents and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Around 10am, my parents arrived, so Tyler got to spend a good portion of the morning playing with both sets of grandparents! How fun!
At 12:30pm, it was time to eat...check out our spread!

I have to give myself props by saying that everything was pretty freaking amazeballs!!! The only thing I wasn't too happy with was the deviled eggs...I think I may have put in a little too much mayo...but it's an art (better luck next year). But the dressing was to die for! My mom's secret (or not too secret) recipe.
And I tried a new dish this year... Creamed Corn Casserole. It was devoured in about 5 minutes...the whole dang dish! Another Pinterest win (and now a staple in our Thanksgiving rotation).
We ended the meal with Gooey Butter cake and Pecan Pie...mmmmmmm!!!

After lunch we all did this...

And then Thanksgiving night, My parents and I headed to Walmart for the 8pm Black Thursday craziness. I was really only after one thing...a car for Tyler. Santa is bringing him a 12 volt Jeep for Christmas and Walmart had them for only $149 (retail $300). I wasn't passing up that deal! The funniest part of the whole thing was trying to the get the huge ass box in my parent's SUV. It would only lie horizontally, so we had to push down both back seats to get it in. That left no room for me. So my dad told me to drive home (being a protective father...can't have a pregnant woman without a seat belt) and he literally laid on top of the box for the entire trip home (imagine superman style) facing the windshield. It was quite hysterical.
We ended Thanksgiving night with a Beer Pong Tourney at our Neighbors the O's house!
What a great holiday!

Friday morning, I went with my mom and mother-in-law to Target where we did a little Black Friday/Tyler Christmas shopping! Meanwhile, all the men (and Aunt Kate) took Tyler to park. We said goodbye to my parents and then spent the afternoon at mini golf. It was GORGEOUS outside and Tyler had a ball! Friday night we decided to go check out the lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with the in laws and our friends Jared and Melanie (utter fail..it was sold out) but the kids ran around in Piedmont park and then we went to Cafe Intermezzo for hot chocolate and dessert! Great times!

Saturday afternoon, Matt, Kate and Dwight (my father-in-law) headed back to DC, and Jan stayed behind to get additional Tyler time. Ben and I took full advantage and decided to have a date night! We met Jared and Melanie at Hudson Grille to watch the Gamecocks play...Wait, I'm sorry...we went to Hudson Grille to watch the Gamecocks kick some Clemson ASS!!! Oh yeah!

Sunday, we went to church, sent Jan on her flight back to DC and decorated the house for Christmas! It was a great way to kick off the holiday season!