Still so much to be Thankful for

When I realized rear Thanksgiving was quickly approaching and I hadn't yet made any pumpkin bread to get into the mail for Brian, I felt like the worst wife ever- and got to work! 

Above is the recipe Ive been using for 15 years. Just in case my house ever burns down and it's lost forever... 

We were headed to Knoxville to spend Thanksgiving with Brian's family this year-

Kids had school on Tuesday, and I had work, so we left on Wednesday. Along with everyone else. The drive was long and traffic, but we made it!

And you know what else made it the day before Thanksgiving? Brian's pumpkin bread! This is the picture he sent me after eating the first piece-

I only make it once a year, and it is our breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. I'll never know how it only took 4 days to get to him, since sometimes packages can take 3 weeks- but I was just so grateful that he didn't have to go a Thanksgiving without a little taste of home. 

Tate got in the kitchen this year- and was in charge of The Mann Sauce, a favorite accompaniment to ham that comes from our friends, The Manns-

 Again, the recipe- just in case of house fire.

Turkey time for 18-

Brian's older sister Caron and her fiancé Jeff were visiting from Colorado, Brian's nephew Josh and wife Katie had just moved back to Knoxville for Katie to start law school at UT, Brian's Aunt Barbara, cousin Chris and his girlfriend Carly were all visiting from England for their first ever American Thanksgiving. Needless to say, our game playing Thanksgiving night went to a whole new level with this crowd!

 And Brian was surely missed by all...

During game playing, Tate realized he had a killer sliver in his foot. Nana to the rescue-

 Like I said it was killer. He was very tolerant, and a bag of candy helped distract him. But we needed to get Carly in on the extraction-

Carly for the win!

 Friday Macy taught Gracie to make her first ever batch of slime-

 Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. While I was so grateful to be able to get to Brian's family with ease to be with them all over the holiday, I hated that it was our first big holiday apart from Brian. (And my first Thanksgiving with my mom too) This is the holiday that would lead us into the Christmas season without Brian. This is gonna suck. It will be tough. But I guess we are tougher....