This Thanksgiving vacation was probably the best one I’ve had in a long time. On Friday of last week, my best friend Tess flew in to visit me. Not 3 hours after she arrived, we were picking up Courtney and on our way to a girl’s Night at the movie theater, watching Twilight:) We even took a “Picture of Shame”, because we couldn’t believe we’d chosen to spend our evening sitting next to squealing, twittering junior high girls. Unfortunately, none of them turned out very well- we look pretty hideous in all of them, so I’m not going to embarrass us any further:)
On Saturday, Tess was a real trooper, even lasting through a 2 1/2 hr. Vespers Service! I forgot that Saturday nights are going to be even longer now, thanks to the approaching Advent and the beautiful music it brings:)
A few days later, my whole family arrived by car to stay with us. It’s such a blessing to finally have an apartment big enough to house 6 extra people! Granted, we needed the fold-out couch and my parents used a blow-up mattress in the spare bedroom, but the real advantage was finally having an extra full bathroom! After going out to a wonderful lunch on Sunday after church, we went sightseeing through Euless and even saw the Southlake Carroll Dragon Stadium- a high school football stadium bigger than those at most Universities! Probably has something to do with the fact that they are among the top 5 HS football teams in the US?
On Monday we all visited/toured/got lost around SMU with my brother, Joe, who is considering going there for college next year. After a few dorm tours, we went to the piano recital I was holding at a non-profit nursing home in Ft Worth.
Here is a picture of the students that could make it- I actually have around 8 more that went out of town for the holidays.
From the recital, we all went out to Mexican food and then went home to play our favorite family board game, “Apples to Apples” 🙂
On Tuesday, after a Girls Brunch with the four of us at the Waffle House, Tess decided to leave us and fly home 🙁 After dropping her off, my mom and sister and I went shopping. Later in the afternoon, the whole family convened at the Canals of Las Colinas for a family photo shoot with photographer Kalli Barker. I will definitely post pictures the minute she gets them to me.
Wednesday, we all went to see my school, St. Peter’s, in Ft Worth. Not far away were the Botanical Gardens, so we decided to check out those as well. Here are some pictures of the beautiful fall:
The next day, of course, was Thanksgiving! I made a few dishes including the green bean casserole and the squash, but after a few hazardous incidents (including an exploding soda can!!) I stayed out of the kitchen. My mom had to do the majority of carving the Turkey and making the dressing, Keith helped by making pies, Joe by making the mashed potatoes, and Jesse by making his mom’s famous jello salad. Later in the evening, as is Honeycutt custom, my whole family went to see “Australia” and “Bolt” at the movie theater.
On the following day, my family had to leave to drive back home to California. I did nothing the entire day except for mourn while watching TV. It was actually rather peaceful. The Voss/Unruhs invited me over to their place, seeing as Jesse and Michael were gone at the St. Seraphim Men’s Group making beer (yes, they made beer at their Men’s Group! You can even see a few pictures with Michael in them here), but I was too sad to be around happy families and people 🙁
Saturday, however, was a different story. Jesse and I decided not to go to Vespers, and instead buy a tree and decorate for Christmas. It was lovely to blare the music and get ready for the holiday season:) To celebrate, we even invited the whole Unruh/Voss clan over for some gingerbread and apple cider.
And finally, yesterday, we went to church. It was great to see the Voss/Unruh clan at St. Seraphim’s for the first time, even though Mr. Voss was at the hotel feeling ill. After church, Jesse and I went out to lunch and made our way up to the Frisco Ikea to return a bookcase and buy a couple flower pots:) The rest of the afternoon was spent watching football, taking a nap and getting plans and phone calls made for the coming 3 weeks before Christmas.
So there you have it- one of my favorite weeks ever! It will be a hard one to top, that’s for sure!
Related postsDreaming of a White Thanksgiving |
Holiday Marathon |
Ahhhhh….Pascha Break….and Godchild #2!! |
an homage to the bestie |
Leave a Reply