Life with the Ball's: Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving was different this year. And wonderful! We typically spend the holiday skiing at Whistler but now that we are pinching pennies {everyone told us we'd be poor when we started up a practice and they were right} we figured we'd better stay home. But the reality is that in our business, you never get to take vacation days. Thanksgiving happens to be one of the few times when all the dental offices close their doors so Randy wouldn't have work even if we stayed here. Luckily we have plenty of points from our credit cards {a perk to being a business owner} so Randy was able to find a free hotel and we had a couple free ski passes so a trip to Whistler was back on the calendar. This time with an exception: I stayed home with the littles. And it was great!

I threw a pie party with our friends on Wednesday night because you can never have too much pie and I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't host some type of Thanksgiving event.

We played Left, Center, Right. {Randy says it's a form of gambling} It was great fun and I won the jackpot which was a little embarrassing since it was my party but now I can buy Henry diapers so it all worked out.

Thursday morning I put together a mini Thanksgiving feast and even managed to whip up a couple pies for Randy and the boys to have at Whistler. My mad cooking frenzy was quite enjoyable because Henry was napping, Parker was watching TV, and Randy, Marcus, Ethan, and Landon were playing in the turkey bowl. They came home soaking wet with big smiles on their faces as they recounted their amazing plays, touchdowns, pick 6's, etc. Life was good! We ate dinner using my nice China/tableware while the boys talked about football and how a true Thanksgiving feast would be at McDonald's eating all the hamburgers you want. That made me mad! Who doesn't love sweet potatoes with candied pecans, bacon-wrapped turkey, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy, and soft buttery rolls? Oh wait, only me and Randy. Well, the boys did eat the rolls. And the bacon.

Henry enjoying his "business chair" while I made a mess in the kitchen

Food prep was interrupted several times while I ran outside to chase away the huge deer. Look closely. Two of them have big racks. Randy was worried they'd charge me. Ha!

Parker was the cutest table setter ever. Turns out he doesn't mind helping when he gets to use the good stuff.

After our Thanksgiving lunch, Randy loaded up his car and took Marcus and Ethan across the border {Let it be noted that a week prior I reminded Randy his passport had expired which led to great drama and inconvenience but I managed to secure the passport with a relatively quick trip into Seattle, the world's gathering place for homeless people and drug deals. I actually locked my van doors which I never do but you do crazy things when you're in a city that reminds you of Batman's Gotham City.}
Ok, where was I? Oh yes. So the feast was over and the house was quiet so I took a nap with Henry. People, this was the first nap I've had since August. It was glorious! I spent the next two days putting up Christmas decorations, playing at the park with the littles, and enjoying popcorn and movie nights snuggling on the couch with Landon and Parker. Occasionally I'd get a text from Randy with pics of the boys skiing and I was quite happy to not be there. They got to ski hard, seeking out all the double-black diamond runs they could find and I wasn't jealous even the tiniest bit! I'm thinking this will be the new way we celebrate Thanksgiving. I get to cook, Marcus gets his one day of glory playing football, the older kids ski while I relax at home. A win for everyone!