Well, the preschool teacher in me has kicked in and I've planned excessively for our family visit. In the spirit of this blog I'd like to list the ideas I have in case you'd like to use any as your own. I'm borrowing a little bit from the past and hoping to create some new traditions for the future.
Because I love Mexican food, Wednesday night we'll have a Mexican food buffet available as our family arrives in town. On Thursday I think I'll gift the children with their own Christmas catalogs from JC Penney's. Since there are a ton of kids coming, they may have to share a bit. Maybe I'll give them each their own color of Sharpie so they can clearly mark what is on their wish list. Of course, Thursday would be Thanksgiving which means it's the day of wearing elastic waist pants! :) We'll cook, bake and eat til we nearly pop! I thought we'd finish up with a cup of coffee or cocoa or cider by a bonfire in the lower pasture. We've been collecting branches and other yard debris throughout the fall so we should be plenty ready.
On Friday we can do any number of things! We can do a little shopping (since our options are limited, I doubt we'll do that), we can visit Gilstrap Brothers Winery for a tour and tasting, do kid crafts, Christmas baking, play games or watch Christmas movies. If there's snow on the mountain maybe we could go up to Anthony Lakes and go sledding. We may just sit around and talk while the kids play and that would be ok with me, too! I'd like to finish the day with the Brazil's coming to do a little bluegrass jam at our house tho. They're so fun to watch and listen to!
The Saturday after Thanksgiving at our house is traditionally the day we go to the tree farm and cut down our family tree. We'll spend the day decorating the house and the tree. I'm hoping to convince Donna Marie to take our family pictures that day, too. Maybe even a picture of ALL of us... cousins, aunt and uncle, brothers and sisters.
Sunday, before everyone leaves, we'll have a send-off breakfast... I think I'll post the menu's I'm planning later this week. If I'm REALLY good, I'll have a basket for each family to take home with them. Farm fresh eggs, fresh bread and something we canned this year like jam or applesauce... maybe some salsa. Ambitious, aren't I? I plan on enlisting lots of help to get ready for the holiday. I just can't wait!
Wow! You've got a lot planned. Sounds like great fun. We go out of town for Thanksgiving, which is kind of nice because then I don't have to be responsible for cooking the entire meal. I love decorating for Christmas. I'm lucky if I can get my hubby to do it by the third week of December. Hopefully the kids will put some pressure on him this year to get it done earlier ;)
ReplyDeletei could NEVER survive til the end of december to get a tree! the longest we've waited is two weeks before. it seemed like FOREVER!!
ReplyDeleteagain, more than likely we won't do even half of these things, but being a preschool teacher one always knows to plan for "hang time". :) i'm SO excited!!! :)
You seem to live such a storybook life. You make us especially homesick when you talked about the bon fire on the lower property. Please send pictures. If you ever need extra bonfire material please feel free to pull up those bushes in front of the house(I am totally serious) they would be great fuel for a bon fire and flowers would look much nicer there anyway.
ReplyDeleteblessings on your thanksgiving celebration! Hope to see you in January.
Thank you, Carolyn! Sometimes it is a storybook life. Sometimes it's just life. We are thankful for such a great place to live that really is such a great part of making memories for us and our kids. Where would we be without you?
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