Happy Thanksgiving!

Another holiday has come and gone. I can barely move off the couch with all of the sweet potato pie and no bake cookies I have inhaled over an eight hour period. Despite being in my home town with all of my family this was a rough holiday for Brady and me. Brian is in an outage at work and is working both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. We missed him so much today. It really made me realize that truly, this holiday is about more than just table settings and themed desserts. We should take time to think about thankful we are for our families, near and far. 

My mom kept me super busy as I was in charge of the cupcake desserts and.... the TURKEY. Talk about major pressure. I decided to try a brine, despite having my grandmother's perfectly good recipe for turkey. A brine was attractive for many reasons. I mostly liked the thought of it being in a cooler on the floor versus having it take up 20 lbs of precious space in the refrigerator. I used this recipe. And I promise it DID NOT DISAPPOINT. It cooked for exactly 2.5 hours and was so tender and juicy later that day for dinner. I will be using turkey brines for the rest of my hostess days. 

We spent the afternoon playing cornhole and watching home videos... two of the favorite Rabon pasttimes. Also, we were able to pick up my baby brother from the airport who has been serving in the US navy. He was able to get a few days off to visit and we couldn't be more excited!

                               


This weekend isn't over yet though. We still have to go see the park Christmas lights and tackle some Black Friday shopping with two toddlers.  With so many blessings given from above I can't help but thank all of the past and present hands that have helped me create and keep the most beautiful life I hold so dear. Happy Thanksgiving!


                                 

Halloween with my BOOs

The first of the holidays has come and went this fall season. Brian has been working like crazy so we decided to take a break from our normal Halloween tailgate and headed to Charleston. We had such a great time with the Rabon side. Watching the kids together is seriously giving me mad baby fever. 

                     

My parents had these awesome blowups that Brady was seriously obsessed with. At one point he was so interested in them that he let go of my hand and just stood there with no support. This is HUGE for us considering all of the physical therapy we have been doing. Such a proud mama!

The rest of Halloween day was spent finalizing our costumes and making tons of tasty goodies. We have really been trying to eat cleaner so I have been using lots of fruit and veggies to make mealtime fun for the babe. But, alas, the icing, cakes, and cookies made their way onto the menu. 

Trick-or-treating was such an experience. Brady hung in the stroller for most of the time, while Addy raced her way through the neighborhood gathering all of her loot right before passing out on the couch. The best part of the night was when I offered to walk the kids up the drive to a scarier house of a couple about my age. When we got to the porch Brady promptly pointed at the husband and said,"da-da!". Talk about awkward moment.  

   

 

We are getting ready for our next plane ride in a few weeks as well as prepping for Thanksgiving. And as always the week to week craziness is keeping us at a million miles a minute speed. Happy Halloween my BOOtifuls!