Giving Thanks and Gearing up for Christmas...

We have had a busy but great week!

We had a blast going to Sacramento last Sunday evening to shop for Miss Riley and we ended the fun with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...we HAD to have the Pumpkin Cheesecake and we HAD to eat if fast so Riley didn't eat it all!

The week seemed to fly by with Thanksgiving and all...I had a girls night Monday with my Beth Moore girls...we just sat around a bunch of yummy food and gabbed the night away! Tuesday Riley and I went to a paint studio so she could work on some Christmas gifts and then we had a great dinner with friends.

Then it was time for the baking to begin...I was in charge of all of the desserts...my favorite!

On the menu was a Pumpkin Roll, Apple Streusel Tarts, and a Chocolate Pecan Pie!

The Pumpkin Roll didn't last long and was definitely the favorite!

The tarts and pie were great too and I have leftovers of each of those...although if we eat on them the way we did today they shouldn't last long!

Jason and Paul were the turkey cookers for the big day...Jason fried a turkey and Paul roasted a turkey...they were both AWESOME and we have lots of great leftovers!

While all the food and good times are some of my favorite things about the Holidays, it's always good to reflect on the meaning behind why we celebrate...in this case thankfulness!

I am just as guilty as the next person for getting caught up in the day to day swing of life that I often don't stand still long enough to really be thankful for the big and small things. This year I am thankful for so many things...thankful for the opportunity to be the mom of my sweet little girl, thankful that Jason was home with us and able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us, thankful for our amazing families although we missed them, thankful for great friends and the provision God has had for us even in our move this year, thankful for how blessed we are, and the list could go on and on.

I was also thankful that Riley offered to clean up the house while all the prep work was being done for our big Thanksgiving feast...what would we have done without her?

Riley was thankful for all the cool toys at Paul and Jenn's house, but sad that Cooper wasn't there to play with her!

She LOVES this zebra that Cooper has and gets quite crazy when she rides it!

We share this Thanksgiving with some great friends...the Camerons, the Habbestads, the Buckleys, and the Shalleys!

Amanda and Maddie

Jason and I geared up for the Aggie game...they played rather well even though we didn't win! After all the eating it was nice to get in comfy clothes and relax and watch some good football!

Jenn and I...she just found out she's having a baby girl...woohoo!

Jacob and Hayley...more Aggies!

Me and Riley...she is so hard to get a picture with sometimes...always on the move!

Riley gave a kiss to Cooper via a picture of him...she really did miss him and kept asking for him. Cooper is visiting his grandparents in Texas...yay for them, boo for us.

After the food and the football I sent Riley and Jason home to bed and it was time for the girls to go shopping! I have never done crazy Black Friday shopping and really had nothing in particular that I needed but we have good outlet malls here and many of the stores opened at midnight so I was excited to try it out! I am much better staying up late than getting up at the wee hours of the morning! Carter's and Osh-Kosh had their entire stores at 60% off so it was hard to not pass up some good deals! I was home by 1:30 so it wasn't too late and I had a lot of fun!

Even thought I got home at 1:30 I didn't actually get to sleep until around 3 because I was so wound up so getting up at 7 for work this morning was rough...thank goodness it just required rolling out of bed! I got off a little early and Jason and I took naps while Riley was still napping...we awoke to LOUD thunder and cracks of lightning...sounds we have not heard since we moved here and it was perfect napping weather!

Tonight we got our house all decorated for Christmas...minus a big tree because we aren't going to be here long enough to make it worth it. This is the first year we will be away from home for Christmas since we've been married and I am so excited about our plans but it's a little weird at the same time to not have a tree!

Riley has a tree in her room, however, and we had so much fun decorating it tonight!

She also has new super cute Christmas PJ's courtesy of the sales last night..haha...I'm a sucker for tutus!

We both had on our pj's...actually I'm going to be honest and let you know that I never even got out of my pj's all day...it was great! I also got new pj's courtesy of the sales last night and they are super comfy!

Riley really got the hang of putting the ornaments on her tree and would shout with glee after each one was dangling in the tree!

I would put the ornament hangers on each one and Riley put them on the tree all by herself!

Daddy helped too!

So serious...

The finished product...it's perfect for Miss Riley!

So now for a potty update...Riley got a pretty pink potty at our trip to Toys R Us on Sunday and it has been a hit! She's pottied in it numerous times and we just offer it to her every couple hours if we're at home...sometimes she says yes and sometimes she says no, but she has been pretty consistent about using it when she feels the need to. It's a start and she's so cute about it!

Tomorrow we will have our own little birthday and Christmas celebration and the presents are all ready to go...don't you think she'll love her new toys?

Don't tell her what she got...she'll find out soon and I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to share!