Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in Rochester. We are thankful for so many things: family, friends, our health, a house, our jobs and so many more. After sleeping in on Thanksgiving morning, Brandon helped me get the turkey in the oven. We started a new family tradition of taking a walk while the turkey is in the oven. It was much colder than it has been but after bundling up, we had a great time walking. We came back to lovely smelling house and warmed up next to the fireplace. We had friends come over around 3:30pm. Erica brought a sweet potato casserole, mac and cheese, dressing and banana pudding, Joy brought mashed potatoes and rolls and David made an excellent apple pie, so we had plenty of good food. After eating way too much the girls looked through the Black Friday ads while the guys talked at the table. We later had dessert and then played Apples to Apples. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends here in Rochester!

Brandon playing with the turkeyWe could all sit at the same table!The turkey is done! Brandon had the turkey hold onto a carrot in one arm and a piece of celery in the other!Brandon carving the turkeyOur guests - David, John, Nick, Joy and Erica - Christopher came later after workingNick, Cassi, Adam and Avery stopped by while we were playing games - Cassi made an excellent Oreo pieAvery is so cute!Christopher, David, Brandon and Nick

Joy, Erica, Cassi, Me and Avery

This year, I thought that I would try the Black Friday thing for the first time. I didn't have to work on Friday, I wasn't at home in Oregon and we don't have any kids so I thought this would be the perfect year to do it. Erica and I drove to the Medford, MN outlets at midnight...we thought that it would be easier to stay up late! When we arrived there was a line a mile long for Old Navy but we started at Nike and it really wasn't too crowded. By the time we made it around to other stores, the crowds really thinned out. I was surprised that I actually found a lot of gifts. Most of the stores were having an additional 20-30% of your entire purchase so we found some good deals.

We arrived back in Rochester around 4:15am. I slept for 30 minutes and then drove to meet Joy at Wal-Mart. On my way there, I was thinking that not very many people would be there, but boy was I wrong. The parking lot was completely full. I got there at 5:15 and the store opened at 5am! By the time I made it in one door and to the gardening section with the DVD's, all of the ones I wanted were gone. I was amazed at how crowded it was. We didn't find anything there so we headed over to Home Depot. People were waiting for the doors to open at 6am but we waited in the warm car until then. We did get one of the last two topiaries that were on sale so I was happy about that. Afterwards, we headed to Menards where the parking lot was completely full as well. We had to wait for a lady to leave before finding a spot and it almost got taken by another car who didn't see I was waiting (don't worry, I told them we were waiting and got the spot!). We did find a couple of things in the store but we had to wait in a long time. I finally got back home around 7:45am and slept until 1:30pm! I went out to the mall in the afternoon and did get my best deal of the day - a blouse for $2.67 at Macy's! I think I would do the outlets again sometime, but I am definitely staying away from the early morning shopping in future years!