5 pies, bunt cakes and a pumpkin roll.

Success. A very big success it was. Our first hosting of turkey dinner and Thanksgiving day turned out very well. The only thing we were missing were more mouths to eat the feast. However, our gathering of 8 was perfect company.

Our feast this year and holiday was very different than the year before as so much has changed. First, we stayed in Grand Haven at our home and had family come here. If the snow wasn't a foot high I think I might have packed us all up (and the feast) last minute and took the road home. I missed my parents, lil sis and grandparents a lot. But, I am ever grateful for those who came to us.

Secondly, R's Mom celebrated with us this year; another first. I really enjoyed having her. She brought corn cassarole, biscuits, fresh cranberry relish, 6 pies (more details later), beverages and teddy grahams for Edee. Oh! She brought me a beautiful vase of flowers too! Have you ever had Thanksgiving flowers? It was a nice little surprise.

Third: R smoked a turkey this year. For 5 hours too. He used wood chips, apples and onions. It was delicious. He can smoke a turkey every year if he wants too.

Fourth: We have leftover dessert! And there's nothing wrong with that. Even though we lost the pumpkin pie, it slipped off the pan and fell on the floor, we still had: 2 pecan cheese, 2 chocolate pecan and a pumpkin brickle, small pumpkin bunt cakes and a pumpkin roll. Gotta love having a baker in the family. 

Dinner took all day to prepare and 5 minutes for us to devour the delicious feast. It was well worth it. E and I ended our evening with a surprise visit from my little sis! The holiday turned out pretty good. Now I can't wait for Christmas!

I hope all of you were blessed with time spent with your loved ones, full bellies and lots of leftovers.

Keep loving.

There’s nothing like writers block. I must apologize to my ever so interested and consistent viewers for my lack of writing. I've been tossing around several ideas for new entries and have come up short. Also, The Millers have been busy bees as family is in town for the week. But, I am making all efforts to keep everyone updated this weekend!

Driving to work felt wonderful this morning. First off, I was early. I dropped E off @ 7:50, R off @ 8:00 and was heading towards my destination (work) @ 8:05. How that happened? I am not quite sure. I've been cutting it close lately; two minutes too close so I moved quicker this morning. Secondly, as I was driving over the big bridge out of town I look over and the sunrise is absolutely beautiful. The sun was tucked behind the clouds just enough to wear I wasn't blinded by it but the light was blazing around the clouds creating purples, pinks, bright yellows and oranges in the horizon. Amazing!

Or maybe it felt wonderful because all though it is Wednesday it is my Friday. With the holiday tomorrow, I have a four day weekend. (Another perk of my office job.) And all though E woke up @ 2:00 AM and again at 5:00 AM to stay awake and play for an hour, I am wide awake. Waking up definitely took a bit more effort than usual. I had to pry open my eyelids and shove myself out of bed but none the less I survived.

I have high hopes for tomorrow. R has been talking about having smoked turkey for two weeks now, which he will be doing himself. I am looking forward to this. Can we eat already? Did you know Thanksgiving 2013 is the first official Miller Family Thanksgiving. Well, the first year we are hosting it anyways. And it is the first year Diane will be joining. I am looking forward to her baking tomorrow. And cranberry relish too. All day with our family (well the ones that can join us) will be a blessing. I will be thinking Maddi, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that we won’t see.

While patiently waiting the smoked turkey feast I have been crocheting and creating like crazy. I am almost all set for the holiday market on Saturday. Please check out the details here. I am a fan of shopping local. This little market is a perfect place to start!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Keep loving.

Turkey and all the trimmings.

I love the holidays. And Im pretty sure Ryan loves them just as much, if not more than I do. There are so many things to look forward to and get excited about. Just thinking about it makes me feel like a giddy child on Christmas Eve.

Thanksgiving was an absolute success. This year was the first year, in a long time, my mom has cooked the whole turkey feast at home. My grandparents decided, or tried to decide, that they wont be doing Thanksgiving at their house anymore. Well, it lasted only a split second. Right up until Grandpa realized how the holidays aren't a holiday without all the family in one house. So, next year will return to a normal Reed Family holiday.

But, this year at Mom and Dad's place was still wonderful. Ryan was able to join the family too! He usually misses out on my road trips up north but this time he was by my side the whole time. Well, except for the 5 hours he was deer hunting in the woods with my Dad. Another fun addition to this years Thanksgiving. He didn't bring back a trophy but had a blast just the same.

The rest of our turkey day was spent playing games with the family, relaxing and eating ofcourse. I cant think of a more enjoyable way to spend my Thanksgiving.

And now we get to look forward to Christmas. I almost went out and purchased a pine scented candle. So that when we pull out our very fake, very artificial tree I would be able to atleast make believe that I could smell the piney needles of our fake tree. But to my surprise Ryan wants a real tree this year. As you can probably guess from that whole statement we had a fake tree last year. Which was totally fine as it allowed us to save money. But this year we're going all out! (Who wouldve thoough "going all out" meant getting a real tree?)

I am so excited! And I haven't even pulled out my totes full of decorations yet. Bringing this long but enjoyed year to a close is going to be wonderful.