our thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving holiday was just the break I needed. Come Monday morning it felt like we hadn’t been to work in forever, and it was glorious. Even with helping my brother and Hannah prep the Thanksgiving meal and having all the family over, the stress was kept to a minimum (minus one intense spat during a game of Fish Bowl, but what can you expect?).

Wednesday evening I made the stuffing and Brussels sprouts – both winners if you’re looking for some Christmas recipes. We left LA early Thursday morning to drive down to San Diego (coffee and donuts first, of course), where I got to work on my rolls I make every year (with the help of my niece, who also helps me every year). Since they bought a pre-cooked ham and turkey, the cooking was pretty stress free (though how you get everything out of the oven and hot at the same time is still a mystery to me).

We did everything I mentioned before – strapped the GoPro to Kipling (so she could film the whole day), played board games, roller skated, and spent some good time with family. I had all the best intentions in the world to use my film camera until I realized my camera batteries were dead, and I didn’t have any spares. But that’s okay because it just meant that I took 5 billion on my DSLR anyway. We have a lot of video footage we are compiling too, and I’ll share that once it’s done.

So without further ado, here are 69475 photos because I’m the worst at narrowing down.

Got a genuine smile from my grandpa for a photo – is this a sign of a successful Thanksgiving or what?

Kipling in her festive garb. I made my niece a matching Gryffindor scarf for her birthday (first photo above).

Opening her birthday presents (a little early).

I love the photos below because they are a direct reaction to what’s happening in the photos above (my brother trying to carve a turkey for the first time).