The Day After The Big Feast

Well, the day after Thanksgiving was very quiet because there were no good deals on Black Friday. We got up and headed out to get a few presents, nothing too exciting.....I apologize to anyone that will be receiving these gifts. We went to our local mall and were surprised at how quiet it was. We got the things we needed and headed to the arcade where we played the video game version of Deal or No Deal. I took a risk and picked the case we had chosen and lucked out because we won 100 tickets(wish it had been dollars). With that big win we were able to get Emma a ugly stuffed lion that she doesn't care about.


That evening we went to Alexandria for the Christmas tree lighting. First, a little geography lesson. We live in a small town called Lorton, Alexandria is just north of us about 15miles(that's where Kyle works) and D.C. is north east of Alexandria about 10miles. Anyways back to the topic at hand, Alexandria is a very old Colonial town along the banks of the Potomac River. The tree lighting ceremony started about 7pm in Market Square when the town crier announced the start of the Christmas season and introduced the Mayor.


The Mayor then came out and lit the town Christmas Tree. Sorry the picture is not very good.

Emma's favorite part of the night was Santa's Frosty something. They are a group of kids from a local dance company. The name is weird but they were fun to watch and kept Emma very entertained. They danced a bit then it was time for Santa's big entrance. Emma learned about Santa that night and has not stopped talking about him it helps that she sees him everywhere.

Thanksgiving

Preparing for the Thanksgiving meal started around 9am as Kyle and Emma went down to Stafford, VA where a friend of ours, Ammon, fried our turkey. Emma was gone for about 4 hours and I was able to clean the whole house in peace.

A few days before Thanksgiving Kyle said "this is our first Thanksgiving doing all the cooking our selves" and I told him it is more like warming up. Our menu consisted of Stove Top Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Brown and serve rolls, Olives, Jello Pudding, Sweet Potatoes(I did cook this), and Mashed Potatoes brought by Haley and Turkey.

The food was nothing that Martha Stewart would have cooked, but I am sure but it was good. Although I did take a little inspiration from Martha for my table. I think the table turned out great. Wish I had gotten a picture before it was covered with food and people.

Over all Thanksgiving was nice and low key. We had great food and good conversation. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and remembered to count your blessings.