4 turkeys down... and one chicken!

We had FOUR Thanksgiving meals this year... can you say bloated? It was SO much fun though and made me realize how truly blessed Ben, Legree and I are. We are so blessed with big, loving families and friends. Here's the low down on our meals for Thanksigiving, plus one extra bonus meal that was not Thanksgiving persay, but I'm thankful for it none the less!

1. Sunday 11/21 - Our church had a Thanksiving pot luck meal. It was awesome! I love sampling everyone else's recipes and trying out new things. I had cranberry sauce for the first time. It was yummy! But I still can't handle the canned kind, yuck! Legree had fun playing outside on the play set with all the kids. I, unfortunately, did not get any pictures from this gathering.

2. Wednesday 11/24 - This was our bonus meal with "Friends", although they are really family. We went over to Meg, Drew and Ian's house and had supper with them. We get together at least once a month to eat, and since it was right at Thanksgiving and I'm SO thankful for having this family in our lives, I had to include it. The boys had fun fighting over which one of Ian's toys they were going to ride on next. Megan cooked an awesome meal of chicken, homemade mashed potatoes and peas.. it was great to catch up with them!!

3. Thursday 11/25 - Lunch at Gigi and Papa Waters house. This is Ben's mom's parents, got that? Almost everyone was there and it was a blast! Ben's cousin Heather's little girls were there and Legree liked having the "preEE" (pretty) girls there to play with. Ava, her youngest daughter, and Legree could pass as twins! They are both the cutest little blonde haired, blue eyed little cuties I've ever seen! While we were waiting for all the food to get done, Ben's dad took Legree out to Papa's shed and he found a "Tractor". Really, just a lawn mower, but to Legree they are all the same. So the rest of the day we were chasing Legree down to the shed. As soon as he could get a head start from us, he was gone and in the shed and up on the tractor. So, the highlight of Legree's Thanksigiving day was Papa got the tractor out and took him for a little ride around the yard.

Here's a picture of Ava and Legree... and then Legree riding on Papa's lap

Saturday 11/26 - We headed off to our annual trip to Gaffney. Ben's Great Aunt Lou lives out there and still owns (but doesn't live in) the home that Ben's Grandma grew up in. It's out in the middle of no where, and so beautiful! Every year she cooks a huge spread and everyone brings some food along too. After we eat, we all head out to the woods to climb "THE hill". It's really just a big steep hill back in the woods, but it's a tradition for the kids to all climb it while we all take pictures. Legree went with us out there last year but was only 5 months old, so this year was much more fun! Legree and Ava walked around, explored and got into everything! Legree loves being outside, so this was his bread and butter. It honestly just warms my heart so much to have pictures of Legree on this hill now. I haven't been a part of this family for very long really, but this tradition is so meaningful that I feel like it's been a part of my Thanksgiving since I can remember. Whenever we talk about Thanksgiving we talk about the woods, THE hill and the creek. This is what memories are made of folks!

Here is Ben and Legree on THE hill and Ava and Legree holding hands and both pointing up to the sky at a airplane (SOOO CUTE).

Sunday 11/27- Last but not least on a turkey rampage was my parents. We had a blast there too! And their ain't nothin' like your mama's home cookin'! My Aunt Nila joined us as well, and it was so great to catch up with her. We ate some awesome food, sat around and chatted, and played with Legree. This was awesome to me because we had had such a busy Thanksgiving up this point, it was nice to have a nice relaxing day with my parents at "home". I did miss my brothers, sister in laws and niece and nephews terribly though. The holidays aren't the same without them. I guess I should be used to it by now, but it never gets easier missing your family on holidays. It makes me miss my grandparents terribly too! I wish they could have been here to spend Thanksigiving with and to see Legree and all his personality and sweetness.

Anyways, Legree had a ball and ate up all the attention from the 5 of us. He loved riding the horsey that was mine when I was a kid. And, of course, Papa (my dad as Legree has come to call him) makes it more fun by making it "buck".

And since I completely forgot to take pictures of Legree chowing down on his first real Thanksgiving meals... I took a picture the other day of him eating all the leftovers. He loved everything!