Pass the Turkey

What I  meant to say was "pass ON the turkey" as in don't eat it, skip it, or fuhgeddaboudit! This family opted to hop on a plane early Thanksgiving morning. There can be only one destination that can get us so excited to be up before the sun and I have faith, trust, and pixie dust that you can guess what it was!!!

You got it! We will be spending the next 10 days celebrating Christmas with extended family at Walt Disney World.

Instead of turkey dinner we had an Italian feast compliments of the fiery depths of Stromboli, Vesuvio, and Etna in Epcot's World Showcase.

I'll stop back for some more updates when the gang is all here. But until then, check out this Christmas tree! If this doesn't get you into the spirit then Bah Humbug to you!

And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance....go to Disney!

We are thankful...

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I know I'm a bit late in posting our Turkey Day fun, but I just came out of my turkey coma and I'm ready to get back to reality.

This year we had a very laid back Thanksgiving, for the first time in as long as we can remember it was just the three of us. We tried to keep up some of the long-standing traditions like playing a new game, watching football and skipping lunch in lieu of dips, chips and other snackies but it just did not feel the same.

Teagan woke at the crack of dawn and was so excited to be able to wear the new dress she got from Nanny and Poppy. She looks to find any excuse to wear a dress, I guess there's no better reason than a holiday! She looked adorable and complimented her look with white ballet shoes (did I mention her ballet shoes have become a very important fixture in her life?).



Teagan had hoped for some snow on Thanksgiving so we could go out and play - the weather called for snow, just not in Minnesota. I write this blog 6 days post Thanksgiving and we still have yet to enjoy any type of snow accumulation. This was as close as she got to snow this day - still pretty cute!



Even though it was just the three of us we still managed to cook a meal fit for an army. My favorite part, as always, are the rolls. Teagan and I watched them rise all day until they were FINALLY ready to go in the oven. Teagan was happy (as was I) that she could stop asking "Are they done yet?" I promised her she could butter them when they came out of the oven and she was happy to help!



After dinner the fun began! Really, I have no pictures of dinner. I've never really understood why people try so hard to coordinate the cooking times of things such as the turkey, sides and wine pouring only to spend 20 minutes taking pictures of everyone sitting at the table ready to dig in like gluttens...when it's finally time to eat it's a surefire bet the potatoes are cold and the wine bottle is almost empty due to the stress of trying to figure out how to work the automatic timer.

I do, however, have pictures of the pie - simply becuase Teagan's only request this year was that she get to try Pecan Pie. What? A 4 year old wants Pecan Pie? We humored her even though neither of us have ever had a pecan pie and it seems so unbearably gross. To my surprise a Pecan Pie is filled with creamy caramel - very rich and delicious. They need to come up with a better name - Pecan Pie just does not sounds as tasty as Gooey Caramel Pie topped with Pecans. Here's a picture of heaven in a pie pan along with it's proud owner:




To top off the day we received a visit from a cute little Elf! He arrived while we were outside lighting up the house. When we got back in the house Teagan noticed him sitting on the ledge and could not believe her eyes! He brought along some special treats for Teagan and his book so we would know what to do with him. Santa sent him to watch her and each night he flies back to the North Pole to report on Teagan and her activities. If she's well behaved she might find a small holiday treasure the next morning near the elf. It's really been a lot of fun watching her try to interact with the elf. Each night when he returns from the North Pole he lands at a different location so each morning she runs around the house to find the elf. Did I mention she named him Elfie; quite appropriate! If you want to learn more about Elfie and his other elf friends you can at http://www.elfontheshelf.combut please don't ruin the magic for Teagan.



I'm hopeful you all had as much fun as we had on Thanksgiving! Now get out there and get your Christmas shopping done!!