The Buckmaster Blog: Turkey Day 2010

Since we've been married (three Thanksgivings now!), we've never had to celebrate Turkey Day without both of our families. It has been so wonderful getting everyone together for the holiday. It has become a tradition and we feel so blessed to not only get to spend it with both of our families but that our families just seem like one great big family when they're together. It is such a blessing!

Last year, we hosted everyone at our house. We had not begun construction on the upstairs yet so we had my parents, George's parents and our siblings all staying in our three bedroom house, sharing one bathroom. Well a lot has changed in the past year. We still have three bedrooms but our guest house is vacant and we have two full functioning bathrooms in the house. Plus George's parents now have a house in Granbury (only 45 minutes away) so we don't have quite so many under one roof. Being able to have everyone at our house again this year made me so happy. I didn't want to seem like we had to host Thanksgiving but I really wanted to and it made me so happy when it was all finalized. My parents, little brother and his friend arrived on Tuesday night. It was so great to have some extra time with them. Since they are both still working full time and leave 5 hours away, we don't get to see them near as much as we see George's parents and it makes me sad. I love spending time with my in laws so much and just wish we got to spend more time with my parents. We enjoyed a casual dinner at Love Shack, a great burger place on the West side with a live band outside. Wednesday, my mom and I picked up the flowers from Central Market, last minute grocery items and the rental chairs. We started working on the tables and my sweet dad hung up my curtains in the living room. It was no small task but we got it done, thanks to all of his help.

Normally we have our Thanksgiving meal around 2:00p.m. so we are ready for the Cowboys at 3:15p.m. Well Matt (George's brother) called the week before and said he unexpectedly had to work on Thanksgiving in San Antonio until noon. We moved our dinner to 5:00 and let me please say, it was the best decision we ever made! We got up Thanksgiving morning, my dad cooked a leisurely breakfast and my in laws and sister in law and soon to-be brother in law (I hope!) came over. We had such a laid back day visiting and cooking. No one was rushed or stressed out. It was perfect! Matt got off work a little early and was here by 3:30p.m. One of my sweet friends, Lindsey, came over for dinner. Her family is in Missouri and she didn't go home for Thanksgiving this year. I love Lindsey to death and am so thankful to have her in my life. She is a wonderful friend and we have gotten so much closer over the past year. One of George's friends from high school, Chris, also came over for dinner. His parents live in Michigan and he stayed in town for Turkey Day this year. Chris has always been such a great friend to George and I am glad he joined us for Thanksgiving. We devoured our yummy dinner and soon everyone was snoozing. We had Cajun fried turkey (Dad), ham (me), dressing (Mom), mac and cheese (Rachel), green bean casserole (Mom), carrotts and pecans (Laura), twice baked potato casserole (me), creamed corn (me), rice (George), peas (George) and rolls (me). It was fabulous!! For dessert we had pecan pie and pumpkin/cream cheese pie....delish! Laura also brought some yummy dessert squares that we snacked on all day. That evening we watched the A&M/Texas game and I am happy to say that my Ags ended the season with a 6 game winning streak. We are headed to the Cotton Bowl and I love it!!!

Friday, we relaxed around the house and then ventured to Granbury for a late lunch at the Buckmasters. My parents, Laura and I ventured to the Square and did some shopping. My parents loved Granbury. Just maybe I can convince them to head this way in a few years :) We watched lots of football (heaven for me) and had such a great time visiting. The Buckmasters prepared BBQ and lots of delicious snacks (as if we needed to eat more)! Then we came back to Fort Worth and looked at Christmas lights. It was a great evening. Saturday morning, my parents left around noon and I did my trail run for my half marathon. I ran 13 miles in 2:25 hours. Although I was sore, I wasn't dead which made me happy. We enjoyed Mexican food with my in laws, Matt and Rachel and then went and bought a Christmas tree. I spent the day Sunday taking down fall decor and putting up Christmas. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

I have so much to be thankful for and I am going to work on focusing on that when I get down. Sometimes I don't think we realize how truly blessed we are.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Lindsey