Great Thanksgiving and Planets

Last week was very busy for us, as I'm sure it was for your family, too. We left for Mississippi Tuesday afternoon to visit my folks for Thanksgiving. The next day, we drove to Sunflower, MS, to visit Stephen's grandmother and family (first picture). My brother Matt came with us. We all had a great time, and Mary enjoyed meeting her family. We came back that same night.

As we were driving back to my parents' house, I noticed Jupiter and Venus really close to each other in the night sky - that was pretty neat! I checked my email, and sure enough there was a message from my astronomy site saying that TONIGHT (Dec. 1) those two planets are going to meet up by the moon! Very cool! Look for the conjunction tonight in the SW sky.

We spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents' home with about 50 of our relatives. Thanksgiving is a very big deal in our family; everyone knows that lunch is ALWAYS at my grandparents' house. I usually only see these people once a year on this day, so it's interesting to see how people have changed in the year. For instance, last year, we were 3 months pregnant, barely showing, and this year we walk in with a 7 month old baby... time flies.

The day after Thanksgiving is our annual family trip to the Christmas tree farm in Hatley, MS. It takes about 30 minutes or so to get there, and we always listen to Christmas music while driving down the country lanes, which makes the tradition all the more charming. It wasn't too chilly outside, but we still bundled Mary up in her bear suit (that's what we call her warm winter coat). We walked around and looked (and touched) the different trees. Mary had a good time. We stayed at the farm for about 45 minutes and then headed home with the winning tree. Mary zonked out on the way home, which was expected. She absolutely loves being outdoors, but she usually goes to sleep afterwards (I'm not complaining!). Back at my parents' house, Stephen helped my brothers bring in my mom's Christmas decorations and we got to work decorating the house while Mary took a nap. I convinced my mom to let go of some of the very old and unusable decorations and knick-knacks, which usually stay in the bottom of the boxes anyway. It was hard for her, but I know she'll appreciate the lack of clutter when it comes time to pack everything up again. After the tree had time to sit for a while (so the branches will settle), I put on my favorite Christmas movie (White Christmas) and everyone decorated the tree. We all really liked the way the tree turned out this year, and Mary loves the lights. Saturday we relaxed and visited with our family, and then after lunch Stephen, Mary, and I headed back home. Very successful Thanksgiving week. However, Mary is still in her all-I-want-is-my-mommy phase, so I didn't get much of break. But I think she may be starting to get out of that. She's getting much better at being with Stephen, and by the end of the week she was getting comfortable with my parents. We'll be going back to Mississippi for Christmas, so maybe things will be a little different then.

Last night we finished decorating our home for the holidays (that is my parents' tree and living room in the picture, not ours). We bought a few things at Target that I've had my eye on. It's not much, but just enough I think. I might get a few more little things at Hobby Lobby after Christmas, not sure yet.

This morning Mary and I made our very first homemade Christmas presents. Well, they're still in production at the moment. I can't say what they are (don't want to spoil the surprise), but I think they'll turn out okay. Mary's part in this project consisted of crying her little eyes out while I traced her hand print on a piece of paper. Next year it should be easier. Hopefully less crying. Speaking of crying, she's doing it now. She just woke up from her nap, so I better go. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Oh, I forgot to mention that it snowed today! Mary missed it though, she was napping. It stopped before she woke up. Okay, better run!