Thanksgiving Weekend

November 27-29, 2025

Scott, Karen, Nora, Wesley and Grandma all came for Thanksgiving.  Things started out pretty slow, just hanging out a bit around the house on Wednesday afternoon/evening.  Then the festivities set in on Thursday with our big dinner together.

   

Thursday night we celebrated a little bit of Christmas with Grandma, Nora & Wesley.  Then on Friday we headed out for some Black Friday shopping and the annual scavenger hunt at Southridge.  We closed out Friday with a showing on the Peanuts Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

On Saturday we had a very full schedule.  First thing on Saturday morning I met Scott and Nora at Starbucks for her very first Starbucks drink - the pink drink.  It was a hit. I learned after the holiday that Nora has now learned to make these at home!

Then on Saturday afternoon we had a fun family outing to Uncork & Create to make crushed glass Santas!  We had a wooden Santa form and then we got to fill it with crushed glass and finish it with resin and hardener so it would make a suncatcher.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and all of them came out just a little different.  Daniel was on call so he didn't get to join, but we brought all his stuff home and he got to make his a little later.

   

   

   

   

Then, on Saturday night we braved the cold to visit Light the Night.  It was pretty cold, but we still got to see all the lights, Wesley got to enjoy some bounce houses and Nora and Emily went skating.  It was a very full and very fun day.  This was definitely one of our best holidays.

   

   

   

   

Friendsgiving

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Emily invited her new friend group from Homecoming over to the house for Friendsgiving and I couldn't have been more happy to host.  It has been such a joy to see how this group has become so inseparable. Finally.  A good high school experience.  Everyone brought a dish to share and I think they all had a great time.

   

18th Birthday Party

Friday, November 21, 2025

My sweet girl is turning 18, but I'm not sure which is harder to believe: that she about to be an adult or that she wanted to have a little party with her friends to celebrate.  She decided last month that she wanted to have a small bowling party with just her close friend group.  Bowling after Homecoming is what brought this group together so it seemed fitting to have her little party there with the same crew.

   

   

So, we got a party room at River Alley and had pizza and cupcakes. Then, to add a little fun, we bought everyone matching bowling shirts for the party.  They seemed to be a big hit.  We started with food in the party room. along with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to the birthday girl.

   

   

Then the kids got two lanes of bowling for 2 hours.  Daniel and I did not stay the whole time, but Emily reported that everyone had a blast and from the little bit we saw at the beginning, that sure seemed to be the case.  Happy 18th sweet girl!  We love you!

   

   

   

   

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - Part 2

Sunday, November 16, 2025

We had one more party opportunity and we were NOT going to miss it.  But, before heading out we grabbed a quick dinner at our beloved Contempo Cafe - turkey pasta marinara for everyone!  We also stopped by to see the gingerbread castle display.

   

Then it was time to head into Magic Kingdom for the party.  Our first stop was the Haunted Mansion followed by Small World and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  We couldn't fit too much more in before the parade so pretty soon we had to go get our seats.

   

   

   

   

I love the parade and I was thrilled we got a great place to watch from again tonight.  I think some of my pics even came out better this time around.

   

   

   

   

   

   

After the parade we were lucky enough to get one more holiday dessert party and fireworks experience so as soon as the parade was over it was time for desserts!  Yum!

   

   

   

   

After the fireworks and allllll of the desserts, we took a spin on the speedway one more time and finished the trip with a ride on Space Mountain, complete with Christmas music overlay and colored lights.  Such a fun weekend holiday adventure!  Loved every minute!