The Real McCoys: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is possibly my favorite Holiday. I love everything fall, and while in Syracuse it is usually full on winter-y by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, there's still something about this time of year that I love. It is a reminder to count your blessings, we get to spend time with family without the craziness of Christmas, and it is the beginning of the holiday season. It is especially nice for us, living so far from home, to know that there is another holiday right around the corner. This year, Kate, the dogs and I left Kevin in Syracuse and went home to PA by ourselves (!). The trip actually went very well considering .. I have become a little bit immune to the baby crying in the car. She was a little fussy for the first half of the trip down, but then we had smooth sailing from there. I do miss the days of 10 minute stops at the rest stop .. now, by the time I let the dogs out, feed Kate, change her diaper, go to the bathroom and get gas 40 minutes has gone by! Hopefully I will have adult company on most trips here on out.

We had an awesome visit with family and friends. Kate even spent an entire night with Kevin's parents so I could participate in a friends' bachelorette party in Philadelphia. All in all a very successful visit.

We had a busy day on Thanksgiving. We had breakfast with my grandmother at Kendal with Aunt Becca. Then we checked in on the Neubauers and Laura, Nate and baby Kauffman!

We had our Thanksgiving meal at my family's first, and it was a whopper. Our original plan was to have a quiet meal with just my immediate family, which rapidly expanded to 24 people! Needless to say, Kate got to meet/spend time with lots of cousins and family this trip.

My brother and sister-in-law's wedding gift from a large part of our family was a "Big Green Egg", which is basically a combo grill, smoker, outdoor ceramic oven. We cooked our turkeys on the Egg this year and it was delicious.