.thanksgiving.

Today is Thanksgiving, and the holiday spirit has been in the air all day! Woke up this morning to the sound of sleet outside, which made it so very hard to get up and out of bed. We got to see my husband's brother perform with his high school band on tv for the McDonald's Thanksgiving Day parade, which took place in Chicago. We finally hopped in the truck (me with my rainboots on) and drove throught the sleet for the 30-minute drive to my in-laws'. This is what it looked like outside:

We had a full house this year, and the food was amazing as usual. I made it a point to take a few pictures of people mingling and getting food. It happens the same way every year: We all hold hands and someone says the blessing, then we form a line and help ourselves buffet-style. This year, we had adults eating in the living room and eat-in kitchen, as well as the den. The little kids also had their own table in the den.

This is me with my mother-in-law and her mom. We got a kick out of the fact that we all 3 wore cable knit sweaters. They are the sweetest ladies ever, and I'm very blessed to be able to say my in-laws are good, Christian people who show me love and have made me feel like a welcome addition to the family since Day One.

So after we stuffed ourselves and sat around chit-chatting for a few hours, hubs and I headed home to do a little Black Friday research. Hubs discovered a few online deals and went ahead and ordered himself a few goodies. My brother and his wife came over to discuss Black Friday game plans, and I made some brownies. I was (and still am) in the mood to pull an all-nighter and watch Christmas movies, but unfortunately hubs and the sis-in-law both have to work in the morning.

Here's hubs and the bro working on their shopping game plan. I love that they got really into it this year and spent an hour or two looking through ads to find the best deals on tools. They're meeting up at Home Depot in the morning. So cute. :-)

I am so excited to hit up Target in the morning...at 4 am....Fingers are crossed I'll be able to find everything on my list without too much hassle.

Good luck to everyone out there fighting the crowds to get some deals! I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving Day!