A Beach Thanksgiving

We enjoyed our 80 degree Thanksgiving at the beach. It was a little strange with it being so warm, but by Friday, a storm came and the cold weather moved in. Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving Day.

Layla was ready to eat.  Bless her heart.  Only the mac & cheese was on the table.

After dinner and a nap, Layla and I went for a walk on the beach.  A storm was blowing in, but the weather was still warm and beautiful.  There were lots of these funny-looking jellyfish on the beach.  Like, all over.  My smarty pants brother later googled and figured out that they weren't jellyfish at all, they were man of wars.  Or is it men of war?

It was a nice trip.  The girls are finally getting to an age where we can turn on the DVD player, pop in a movie (every 30 minutes), and ride fairly enjoyably.  Of course, the new addition will change all of that, but that's okay.  I'm sure that will be the least of my worries when this little bundle comes along.

Probably one of my favorite parts about this Thanksgiving was having my 82 year old cousin, Mae Francis, join us for the holiday.  She is a nun.  Yes.  How cool is that?  She's been a nun (or sister, as she says) for 58 years.  She is an amazing woman, and it had been many years since I spent time with her, so it was really nice to see her.  And yes, I asked her several of the questions I had about nuns.  Wouldn't you?  And guess what?  She has a cell phone and knows how to scroll through a blog on a laptop.  Awesome.

And yes, I went Black Friday shopping.  You didn't?  You're missing out.  I'm telling you.  I used to be one of those "you couldn't pay me money to shop on Black Friday" people, but when I met Derrick, he converted me.  He loves to shop on Black Friday.  Now I do too.  This year, I had to skip the midnight shopping, because I knew it would be a terrible day if I didn't get to bed until 3am and had to wake up at 6am with the kids.  Instead, I went to bed early, woke up at 4:30am (only missing 1.5 hours of sleep), and went to WalMart with my sister-in-law, Emily.  She was a late addition, but I'm so glad she went.  The WalMart in Gulf Shores wasn't nearly as crowded as the ones I'm used to at home, so that was a bonus.  I got a new HP Photosmart printer for $74.  I love the energy of it.  Getting up before dawn, grabbing some caffeine, and heading to the stores.  It's fun.  Call me crazy, but I really do enjoy it.  Camping out?  No.  But heading out early.  I'm all about it.

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.  We sure did.  Now, it's time for Christmas.  Do you have your tree up?  I sure do!  Pictures will be up soon!

Oh - and I hope you like the new blog.  My good friend, Hannah, designed it for me.  She's the bomb.  Take a look around and see what you think.

-Lauren

You're worth more than a million canaries. (Matthew 10:31, The Message)