The Hargrave Clan: The Super Incredible Adventures of Haley and Bennett--Chapter One--Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I love the Fall. I love my birthday. And all three of these wonderful things happen at almost the same time every year. That's why it's the best time of the year (Christmas is a close second). This Thanksgiving, however, was a little scattered for me and Bennett, but in a really good way.

Before Matt left, we purchased plane tickets for Bennett and I to go to Rexburg, Idaho to be with my family for the month of December. So exciting! Our flight left December first. We also planned to spend Thanksgiving with Matt's sister and brother-in-law, Rachelle and Jess, in Pleasanton, Texas (about an hour from San Antonio). But since the Hargrave Family always celebrates Thanksgiving on the Saturday after the actual holiday, it ended up being only a few days later we were to fly out from the San Antonio Airport to go to Rexburg. And so, rather than drive back and forth from our home to Pleasanton, to our home, to San Antonio, we decided to simply skip from house to house until our departure date.

Good plan.

This means that on actual Thanksgiving day, Bennett and I were going to ignore the holiday (we would be having Thanksgiving a few days later) and simply order Pizza Hut and pack our bags. Instead, however, we ended up getting invited to spend the afternoon with our good buddies the Askerlund's, and eat a "Pre-Thanksgiving" feast. We had super good food and spent lots of quality time laying on the floor and letting it digest. It was so fun to be with people we like so much instead of packing bags (which I did later at an unholy hour, thanks to our procrastination). And, true to form, I took no pictures. Although I did have my camera.

The next day, we loaded up the car with everything we would need for the next six weeks, and began our first chapter of, "The Super Incredible Adventures of Haley and Bennett."

Three hours later, we pulled up to Rachelle and Jess' house, just in time to lose several games of Wii to my favorite nephews. I have no gaming skills. We spent the night there and woke up early to help Rachelle set up tables and chairs and make last-minute goodies for all of the family and friends that were on their way.

The day was great, filled with food and talking and food and games and food and playing and food. And food. And after all of that good food, we went out and roasted marshmallows over a bonfire. Because marshmallows are the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Bennett and I said our goodbyes to everybody after the marshmallow roast and followed Bekah and Nathan to their house to spend the next couple of days. But that's a different blog post :)

This video was taken the day we left for Rachelle's house. I just thought it was funny because we have a home video of Matt dancing almost this exact same way with his dad. I guess it's genetic. And thank goodness it is, because we all know what would happen to poor Bennett if he inherited my moves...he would be much too famous for his own good.

Bennett and Uncle Jess, going to feed the "hor-hees" (horses).

Haha, this picture cracks me up. Barrett (my nephew) is raising a pig for 4H. His name is Zeke. Bennett was not a fan of Zeke's, as you can tell. He absolutely refused to go anywhere near this pig unless somebody was with him. So we got Walker (Barrett's littlest brother) to go with Bennett. Walker is a "man's man", and added to the fact that he lives with Zeke, he had no problems hanging out with the piggy.

Once Bennett saw how cool Walker was with Zeke, he decided maybe he could be a little braver around him...but just a little. Pigs really are kind of scary, when you think about it.

As much as I love being an adult, playing with the kids was a heck of a lot of fun, too. I try to divide my time equally. :)

Before we eat the Thanksgiving Feast, it is a tradition to go around the table and have each person say what they are thankful for. This is a tradition I love, although I never really know what to say when it's my turn because there's just so much! I am truly, truly blessed.

Here's a quick shot of the food. EVERY counter was covered, plus two tables (there's more on a table behind me, but I couldn't get it all in the frame). There were lots and lots of people there to help eat it all though. What a great Thanksgiving!

My plate. The sweet potatoes always get the center of the plate. I love sweet potatoes. (P.S- Last year I made the rolls, but this year I left that to people who actually know how to bake. This year I made the mashed potatoes (so very creamy) and the green bean casserole. Yay me.)

Bennett, enjoying the bounty. It is crazy to think that last year he sat in this same highchair and ate Turkey and Vegetable baby food from a jar. My, how fast time goes!

This is a clip of not really anything. Just some after dinner activity. I sure like this kid.

Here's Bennett eating his first roasted marshmallow. Actually, I think this wasn't his first, but anyway. It was really yummy.

After we roasted marshmallows, Uncle Jess fired up the lawn mower and gave us all rides. Bennett LOVES to watch this video of the "mon-mow" (lawn mower), but he was not too keen on riding it in real life. Hence me being on it with him. It's OK. It was fun.