Thanksgiving Week - family pics, decorating for Christmas, and the Iron Bowl

I was blessed to be able to spend an entire week at home with my family over Thanksgiving. My first day there, after church, we decided to take some family pictures since we were all dressed nicely. The front porch was all decked out for fall, so it made a colorful backdrop.

Later that day, we set to work setting up the Christmas tree. We wanted to get it finished before Mamaw and Papaw arrived the next day. Dad worked hard to make sure all the lights on our prelit tree were finally working - and that was quite a job! Then Mom set out fluffing the branches while I unpacked all the ornaments, and then we spent hours making sure every ornament was in the perfect spot. Decorating a Christmas tree is an art form, you know. :)

All week long, Mamaw and I talked about how nervous we were about the upcoming Iron Bowl game. Auburn, #4, was playing Bama, #1, and given that Bama was the 2-time national champion, we knew they would be out for blood. Mom invited Aunt Kay, Uncle Alvin, and their family over to watch the game with us, hoping it would be a fun time. We started out having fun, but it quickly went downhill as we watched Bama miss field goal after field goal and ultimately lose on the most bizarre play I've ever seen in college football. I could not believe it!

Mamaw being silly with the shakers

Yeah, it was not a fun game to watch.

Ben and Tracy had a good time.

Despite Bama's loss, which capped off the week on a sour note, it really was a good time at home with my family. And it wasn't really hard to leave, since I knew I'd be back for Christmas in just three weeks!