Family Shmamily: Have Stink

In the Carpenter houshold there is a Thanksgiving decoration that we look forward to each year. We have a set of block letters that spell "Give Thanks" and it has become a tradition to switch the letters and spell out weird phrases. Thus..."Have Stink!" Some of the best ones we've come up with are:

SKIN VET

SKATING

THIN GAS

GET VANS

SAG VENT

SHAG NET

HAG KINS

HANG VEST

All this to say, we've gotten pretty creative over the years...oh...and

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Our Thanksgiving this year was great. You have already heard about our 6 hour drive home...boo, but here is the update about the break after our arrival:

Since both of our families live in Allen, we get to celebrate each holiday twice. This year we celebrated at my parents' house on Thursday and at Tyler's parents' house on Friday. We started our break with dinner at Mi Cocina with the friends (Megan, Jordan, Danielle, Tate, Kelsey, Kayla...missed you Lynley, Shawn, Lindsey, Lee, Nikki, Brad, and Aaron). So much fun, so much catching up, and so much good food!

Thursday was pretty quiet for us. It was just the immediate family (sisters, parents, husband) and it was pretty low key. This year, everyone made a dish to share at our Thanksgiving. We are all so talented in our cooking skills (ladies and gentlemen, we are cooks), and very stylish...check out our sweet aprons:

Kelsey made some delicious baked feta with marinara on crustinis...yum...Kayla made some delicious cranberry salsa...uh yeah...and I made deviled eggs. Mom and dad made everything else. Our Thanksgiving menu included:

Mashed Potatoes

Corn Casserole

Stuffing (with and without sausage)

Rolls

Roasted Turkey

Smoked Turkey Breast

Cranberry Sauce

Gravy

Chocolate Cream Pie

Apple Crisp

Pumpkin Pie

Egg Nog Pie

Remember - there were only 6 of us, but it was so yummy.

Fancy napkin fold for the table...thank you food network magazine!

We also managed to have time to decorate the Christmas tree. As always, it was a headache for some, and a joyous time for others. I still don't know why our parents invite us back to do this each year...we just end up annoying the heck out of them. Favorite joke of the year was having the jumping jack nutcrackers ride the birdsnest! Good job Kayla! Ta-Da...the finished product (plus Kayla dancing in the tree skirt...never a dull moment at the Carpenter house):

Friday's Thanksgiving was very different than Thursday's. Our first Thanksgiving attendance included 6...Friday's attendance included 20!!!

We ate TONS of food, watched TONS of football, and gave TONS of hugs. All in all, Thanksgiving was a huge success. Now, we are on the last stretch until Christmas Break...otherwise known as wedding season for us this year. Lynley and Shawn tie the knot on Saturday the 18th of December, and my good friend Hayley ties the knot with Mason on the 1st of January. My friend Audreyanna is also getting married...her and Jack tie the knot on the 18th also. I'm sad I won't be there to celebrate with them, but I'll see them soon after at Hayley's wedding.

Speaking of weddings...Saturday of the break was packed full of wedding festivities. Lynley had a shower and her bachelorette party. Here are some pics from the shower: