Thanksgiving 2010

Has it really been two weeks since Thanksgiving?...  Wow.

Well, we had Thanksgiving!  It was a delight from start to finish.  Of course I was still kind of glowing from the Tangled experience, but there were good times to be had, so off we went.

We started with Amber's annual Cedar Hollow Turkey Trot in Lehi.  Julie wasn't feeling well, so she wasn't able to attend (though she was much missed by all), but Mom, Dad, Cami, Melody, Jonny and I all had a good time running the 4-mile race in temperature that measured in the mid-teens (yeah, it was cold).  I came in second overall at about 30:17, just a few minutes after Jonny, and everyone made good time.  It might have been the option of either hurrying really fast or dying from cold.  The hot chocolate and cider at the finish line was certainly much appreciated.

I went home to retrieve my now feeling-much-better wife, and we made a few dishes and headed to Mom's house.  It was a delicious feast including all the things we hoped to see, a it was great to be with such a lot of family (though Emily, Elise and Matt and their respective families were missed).  Julie's doubled-recipe green bean casserole was a big hit (which you can observe below), as was her now-famous Pumpkin Whoopee.

We relaxed for the rest of the day and tried to get some rest so we could be ready for Black Friday the next day (never has been one of my traditions, but Julie thinks it's fun).  In short:

• Target with its insane line-up outside the store and wanna-be security "cops" with a power complex manhandling people = FAIL.

• Target with its no Lego Harry Potter for the Wii = FAIL.

• Target with an open express lane so we could buy our two DVDs without having to wait three hours in line = win.

• Walmart with its "on-sale starting at 5 am, but really we're giving out tickets at around midnight, so don't bother trying to come later than that to get that really good deal" = FAIL.

• Walmart with its "ON SALE camera price, but really it's the regular sale price" = semi-fail.

• Sam's Club, with its low crowds and regular sale price of a beautiful new LCD TV, which we much needed, and which I love = WIN.

It was so nice to spend another Thanksgiving here at home, but according to schedule, we should be in Missouri next year, and I look forward to enjoying the holiday the Christensen way for my first time.

I am thankful for so many things, but what I am most thankful for is my beautiful and patient wife and the Gospel that allows me the very real opportunity I have to be with her forevermore.  Smooches.