Thanksgiving Recap

My family arrived at about 2am Wednesday morning. The traffic was bbaadd. Can somebody please move Washington D.C. to another part of the United States? It would make family travel so  much easier.

Needless to say, Wednesday was a pretty chill day (especially because Darin was still sick for the 2nd week in a row. boo). I took the fam out to Yankee Candle in hopes that Darin could get some peaceful sleep. I know I've mentioned this about a million other times, but I love  Yankee Candle. Such a fun, chipper, christmasy place. After walking around looking at all the fun things and trying a few samples we found Shae's favorite shop:

When we got home we started making desserts and stuffing and started our LOTRs marathon by watching the Hobbit.

Shae was really excited about Thanksgiving and was kind enough to wake up the whole house at 5am (and it starts again...). (My mom and brothers got pretty good at sleeping through him crying and then playing right next to them in the living room so early in the morning). We were able to stream the Thanksgiving Day parade which made my morning (I was sad about our cable going out mostly because I didn't think we'd be able to watch the parade which is one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions). We cooked and did dishes and cooked and did more dishes pretty much all morning. And then we ate.

The Menu:
A.J. made this broccoli casserole.

Philip made yummy sour cream filled mashed potatoes.

Mom made her delicious pumpkin dump cake that I remember eating as a kid.

Dad made his special corn casserole.

Darin mastered the turkey and his mothers stuffing (first time making both and they both came out great).

I made this sweet potato casserole, these rolls, this apple pie and this pecan pie.

Our friend from church, Heladio, came over to share the meal with us. Everything turned out great. I went back and forth on what to do with the sweet potatoes for so long. I love sweet potatoes as they are and have always been scared of the marshmallows that people put all over them. I was skeptical of making a "sweet" sweet potato dish but I loved  this dish and will definitely be making it again. I'm also so glad that I found this roll recipe. Fluffy, buttery perfection. I've been searching for "the one roll recipe to rule them all" and this one is it until something better comes along. 

This is us right after eating. Tired and full and Shae ready to get his play on. Goodbye after-Thanksgiving-day-feast-nap. See you in 10 years? Maybe?

This year I am more grateful than ever for my body. The human body really is a miracle. Child birth is a miracle. Feeding a baby from your body is a miracle. It has been really special to see my body work in new ways this past year and understand more and more what a wonderful blessing it is.

I am also thankful for that crazy baby boy in the above picture. We may never take a Thanksgiving day nap again but he truly is a spark of light and joy in my life and I wouldn't trade him for all the naps in the world. I'm also very grateful for that hairy Chelsea loving husband next to me. He sees beyond my weaknesses and annoyances on a daily basis and lifts me up and supports me through thick and thin. He is my rock. 

I'm thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ which pushes me to look for ways to learn, grow and change on a daily basis. I'm thankful for the opportunities that I am given to learn more of the Savior and his plan for me and my family.

I'm thankful for my family and Darin's family and old lifelong best friends and new friends as well. I'm thankful for Netflix and peanut butter and cardigans and blankets and hot chocolate and missionaries and home-made bread and candles and Harry Potter and loofas and nice people who give away their 42" TVs because they have three others.

The End. 

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(My families Pumpkin Dump Cake Recipe)
(It might be your families recipe too).

1 29 oz. can pumpkin

Follow the directions on the back of the can on how to make pumpkin pie. Follow those directions to the T, seasonings, eggs, evaporated milk, all of it. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 in. pan. In a separate bowl, combine cake mix and 1 stick of butter (I grate in cold butter and then stir so that it spreads throughout all the cake mix) You can also add chopped walnuts to this mix if you want. Pour the cake mix all over the top of the pumpkin mix and pat it down. Cook according to the can directions, the same way that you would cook a pumpkin pie (higher temp for a little and then lower it).

You can eat it hot or cold (I prefer cold). Top of Cool Whip. As you can see, the pie mixture is just the same as pumpkin pie but for some reason I think that this is so much better than pumpkin pie..mmmmm...