Happy Thanksgiving

We were lucky enough to host Thanksgiving this year at our new house! Which most people wouldn't maybe be so excited about, but I really love hosting and love not having to travel! Avery got a good nap in her own bed and everyone helped pitch in and bring a dish! I was in charge of the turkey -- yes me -- in charge of making the most important part of the meal! I spent hours on Pinterest researching how to make a turkey and not mess it up! Being pregnant and sick- this was an especially daunting task! Brandon wanted to go hunting Thanksgiving morning, meaning I had to wash, season and pull the crap out of the inside of the turkey myself! Blah! He and I made a deal, if he cleaned the house he could go hunting and I would do the turkey and the rest of the food and last minute set up! I survived prepping the turkey! And all was good!

Everyone started showing up about 3:30 and by 4:00 all 20 of us were here and hungry! We had the most delicious Thanksgiving meal at 5:13 (only 13 minutes behind schedule)! I was super proud of myself for not only a yummy turkey, but also having everything coordinated and on time!! Whoo hoo! 

I think I just signed myself up for hosting Thanksgiving for the rest of eternity- and that's just fine with me! 

Bowling

We went bowling to celebrate Vicki's birthday this year in Monticello! This was Avery's first time bowling and she LOVED IT! He very first ball she rolled down was a strike!! She was so cute trying to launch her ball down the lane... Miss Independant couldn't use the ball roller or have any help of course. 

We had a great night celebrating! 

Trick-or-Treating

We had a fun day planned of morning pumpkin carving, trunk-or-treating, and trick-or-treating with Avery today! I was hoping she would take a good nap today, so she could go out tonight and have fun without being overly tired, but of course a nap was not in her plan at all!! She did lay and rest nicely, but I think she was too excited to sleep! 

She asked if she could wear some make-up, and since it was Halloween, I let her have some lip stick and eye shadow! We sprayed her hair (and half of the bathroom) pink and before she had her costume on she looked in the mirror and says "Mom, everyone is going to think I am a princess and not a witch... You need to make me look more scarier!" We added some spider tattoos on her face and put on her hat and dress and then when she looked in the mirror again, I think she was beyond pleased with the final outcome! 

We loaded out pumpkins in the car to bring with to Kristen and Dawn's so we could enjoy them tonight while we were there and got in the car to meet Dad & Vicki and Trunk-or-Treat in Buffalo! 

On our way to Kristen & Dawn's we stopped to trick-or-treat at GG's and GGPa Ray's and then at Mom and Larry's. 

We finally got to Kristen and Dawn's for pizza and trick-or-treating! The girls gobbled up their dinner, got heir costumes back on and we were out the door! They had so much fun going door to door! Everyone commented on how they loved Avery's witch nose-- everyone! Haha! 

At the end of the night, Sarah, Shelly and the boys stopped by for a few pictures and to play! We had birthday cake for Sarah and then washed up, got jammies on and headed for home! 

I thought for sure Avery would fall asleep on the way home, but boy was I ever wrong! It was 11:30 before she fell asleep- we spent hours last night talking about the one house with a candy dish that had a "grabby hand" that she was so scared was going to grab her and pull her into the candy dish! She didn't seem scared while we were there, but apparently it traumatized her! She asked that next year we please don't go back to that house! I agreed! Poor kiddo! We had such a wonderful night with all of our friends and family, I think this may be the start to a new Halloween tradition! Happy Halloween!!