It has been a whirlwind couple of days! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. Our Thanksgiving festivities started on Tuesday night when my Dad, little sister, and their/our dog Simon arrived. That night we went to see Mockingjay, Part 1 and it was awesome! It was way past my bedtime, but the movie was so good I never felt sleepy once during it.

On Wednesday I had big plans to take my dad and sister hiking up Draper Mountain, but instead we woke up to about 3 inches of snow with it still coming down. It was fun to see Annabelle’s reaction, since it was her first snow.

She was not a huge fan of the snow, and pretty much had a “what the heck is this stuff” reaction.

It was pretty funny when all of the other cows came over to see what she thought of the snow!

As usual, Hank and Scout were over the moon that it had snowed. They love running around and playing in the stuff.

But Simon, on the other hand, sided with Annabelle. He’s not a big fan of the snow or the cold.

It would have been kind of pretty to go hiking in the snow, but around mid-morning it switched to rain and then it was just nasty outside. So instead we got a few things made in advance for Thanksgiving, including pumpkin pie and a 16 pound ham. Then it was off to bed early because we had a big day the next day that started early.

On Thanksgiving morning we were up bright and early for the Drumstick Dash 5K in Roanoke. This year my Dad and sister decided to do the race, too, so we all walked it together which was a lot of fun! We also got to meet the race’s turkey mascot, who told me he ran Marine Corps as his first marathon 10 years ago.

We mingled around for about 40 minutes while we waited for the race to start. It had rained on the way up to Roanoke, but luckily it stopped for the duration of the race. While waiting we also met up with Kim and her family.

Finally, it was time to start the race which was good since it was kind of cold standing around. Initially it was really crowded and I didn’t understand why anyone wasn’t trying to walk faster! As it turns out, we started too far back with people who were going to leisurely walk the race. But we were able to weave through and eventually found some space to walk at a faster pace. After the race we headed home to start our marathon of cooking.

In the afternoon Barry’s family arrived at our house. We all sat down to dinner in the evening shortly after Barry got home from work. We had a great Thanksgiving spread – turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, etc. I didn’t get a picture of any of it, but it was good!

Once all the dishes were done, we all hung out for a bit before Barry’s family needed to head home. Shortly thereafter, Barry went to bed (he goes to bed early for work) and my Dad, sister, and I settled down to watch Home Alone. It’s a family tradition to watch Home Alone on Thanksgiving after dinner!

Today we will be headed up to Blacksburg to tailgate and then cheer on the Hokies as they take on our in-state arch rivals, the UVA Cavaliers, in the Commonwealth Cup.

We’ve got an 8 PM kick off, so we will be under the lights in Lane Stadium. If we want to keep our bowl eligibility alive, we have to win this one. Otherwise we break a 22 year bowl game streak. Come on HOKIES!!

What are the staple foods you have to have at Thanksgiving?
What traditions does your family have for the holiday?
Did anyone go Black Friday shopping?