Thanksgiving 2014

This was my first time hosting Thanksgiving.  I've always had a sense of appreciation for those women in my life who worked so hard to put the Thanksgiving meal on the table...I now have a deeper, grander, and overflowing appreciation for them.  I was cooking, no exaggeration, for THREE DAYS.  My dad made the joke that I spent all that time cooking and preparing a meal that took us all of a half hour to enjoy.  I am just grateful that the turkey and the pies all turned out. 

In the past, the most I have ever made for Thanksgiving is appetizers and pie.  I have never had anything to do with the main event.  This year, I had to do it all.  My family came to stay with us since Dan was on call all weekend and we couldn't leave.  However, my mom was in Utah until Wednesday night, and they were driving up to our house on Thanksgiving morning so it was going to be all up to me.  To say I was nervous was a bit of an understatement, but y'all, I think I managed to knock it out of the park!  Or at least not send anyone to the hospital from food poisoning...which was my main goal.

I was so busy getting everything ready, I almost didn't take any pictures at all.  My mom reminded me I should take a couple to memorialize all the hard work I had put into everything.  So I grabbed a couple, but they aren't much to speak of.

I'm thankful we could cram everyone around our little table.  (The kids ate at London's little table.)

Funny story: I thought it would be nice to have little place settings. The girls thought it would be nice to eat them.  So a couple of us had bite marks in our pears.  Real life.  It happens. ;)

On Friday we took a trip down to Charleston.  It was everything I hoped it would be, except for the fact that it was FREEZING!  In true Carr Family fashion, the first order of business was food.  We got lunch at the Hominy Grill, which was ahhhmazing!  I give it an A+++.  They had a lot of classic southern food with a bit of a twist.  I had a fried green tomato BLT and I am still dreaming about it.

We had to wait outside in the cold for around 30 minutes for a table.  London was not too thrilled.

 Naturally, we had to get dessert.  Because ya know, enough calories weren't consumed on Thanksgiving Day. ;)

Buttermilk pie.  Tasted even better than it looked.

After our leisurely lunch, we headed down to the water.  We'd missed the last ferry to Fort Sumter, but it was so stinkin' cold, I don't think we would have really enjoyed the ferry ride (especially not the little kiddos).  But we walked around the little square they have near the visitors center and ferry dock. 

Who took these pictures, JJ Abrams?? The solar flare is out of control!

 Once we finished up there, we decided to walk around the historic district...until my dad chickened out because it was too cold.  It was nice while it lasted. ;)

Loved the ivy growing on this wall.

We found this neat little square filled with all kinds of memorials.  There was one for PGT Beauregard, a huge one for the Civil War (welcome to the South!), and one for Andrew Jackson's mother, who apparently was a nurse in the Revolutionary War...who knew!

It is always amazing to me how long buildings can last.  There were buildings here that have existed longer than America has been a country.  Maybe it is kind of silly, but I am constantly wondering at all they have been through and seen over the centuries.  I am a nerd like that.  Some notable structures were the home of a pharmacist who invented a small pox (I think??) vaccine there in the 1700's, a home that has remained in the same family for two and a half centuries, and a building that has been a bank since its construction (circa 1800??).  I am not 100% positive on all the dates, as I didn't write them all down, so don't quote me on that, but still pretty neat-o!

 As we were driving away, we passed this pond with all these old, waterfront homes.  My dream houses!! Absolutely gorgeous in the sunset, am I right??

Saturday, the men went golfing while the girls (and Jack) did a little Christmas shopping.  Once it got dark we headed over to the zoo to see the Lights Before Christmas.  London was the main reason I wanted to do it and she slept the. entire. time.  Punk. 

My parents had to leave Sunday morning, and London and Juliet were not thrilled about that, but I am sure we will get to see them again this month.  I'm so thankful to live close enough to see them on a regular basis.  I'm grateful that my dad is in remission and that we'll be able to enjoy many more visits in years to come.  I'm thankful for our home we've made here, for my beautiful family, for the fact that Juliet finally doesn't sleep in our bed anymore (!), and most of all for a loving Savior.  I love that we are able to begin our Christmas season with a heart full of gratitude and love for all the many blessings we have as we focus on the greatest gift and blessing of all.