The weekend before Thanksgiving we got to go to the yearly Sturgeon Bay Holiday Parade. Winter decided it was ready to start making its debut that day, with dropped temperatures and lots of wind, Novella was cold and pretty unhappy most of the time, but the parade was nice as always, and we got a bag full of candy! LOL

Thanksgiving came and went by quickly this year. It was a relatively quiet day. We woke up, ate Egg Strata, and watched part of the parade. Played and had an enjoyable family morning. During nap-time we started cooking the food that wasn’t already prepped and cooked (Novella helped me lots the day before with sweet potato and green bean casseroles). A couple of the guys from Ryans station came over to share Thanksgiving Supper with us. We had Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Stuffing, Gravy, and homemade rolls (they were really yummy Ryan!). It was a really enjoyable meal, and the company was great! Oh and Aveline devoured some food! She may have eaten better than Novella! LOL

The following morning Ryan woke up and went out bow hunting with one of his buddies, and Novella and I decorated for Christmas while Aveline was sleeping. In the afternoon after naps, we went out as a family for black Friday just for fun. We were super disappointed in the lack of deals we found, but we did get 3 new movies for $12 total. So that was a win, and I did get a couple of good deals on Amazon with some gift cards that we received early! HOORAY!

Saturday morning we headed out to use the last of our Target gift card on a couple of fun things, then we headed to the Yacht Club. Every year they put on a Lunch with Santa, and it is free for Coast Guard Families. I work with the Coast Guard Committee and the Yacht Club and get all of the Coast Guard Family RSVP’s for different events throughout the year, we had a much better turn out Coast Guard wise this year and I was very pleased! Although we do not actively celebrate Santa Claus in our home, Novella and Aveline both got to meet him this year. I will write another blog about Santa Claus in our home later. 🙂 Novella really enjoyed decorating sugar cookies, coloring, and eating the yummy food they provided though!

Sunday, after we went to “Jesus’ House” (as Novella calls church), we had lunch with some new friends that we’ve made at church, but never spent anytime with. They are a few years younger than Ryan and me, but our wedding anniversary is the exact same day and year, and their boys are just a couple months older than each of our kiddos! It is really wild. Ryan and Tony hit it off talking about video games, hunting, and guns, and I hit it off with Becky talking about motherhood, and sewing. It was a tasty lunch to boot! So glad to be making some more friends, even though they live about an hour and a half away, we still get to see them every Sunday!! Afterward we came home, the girls napped, Ryan and I played a card game, and then we rearranged our entire bedroom after the girls woke up.

It was a VERY FULL few days, we sure packed in a lot of activities, and a lot of food! However, it was such an enjoyable time! We are still cutting off a day on our paper chain everyday (Countdown to “Chris Chris Time”) and we are thoroughly looking forward to our next holiday adventure, our trip to see Ryan’s Family in NC for Christmas!