this year, we made the executive decision not to travel to western new york for thanksgiving. it’s just a lot to get us all up there for such a quick trip in the middle of this busy season and with unpredictable weather conditions. when i told my mom we weren’t coming, she decided that they would come down to us and they even convince frankie to join them.
they rolled in at the (not even remotely close to) crack of dawn on wednesday morning, which made them very tired, us a little tired, and the day completely lazy. for dinner, obviously, we ordered ronni’s pizza and wings.
ruby and gilly have had a somewhat checkered past. but, in their middle aged years, they seem to tolerate each other’s company a bit better. as they get older they know what’s important in life. what they did not seem to tolerate so well was me insisting they pose for pics with light up antlers on their heads.
on thanksgiving, it was all hands on deck. well. most hands on deck. as we prepared what can only be described as an obscenely excessive feast for the ages.
in between cooking tasks we caught up on the new season of stranger things.
finally, it was time for the feast. all of that work. for approximately 8 minutes of eating. and then an evening of regret.
i still (weeks later) want to barf when i look at these pictures. everything was sososo good. and if you’re wondering, that is a pecan pie cheesecake, baked from scratch, by yours truly, and it’s even better than it looks, and i still have a few pieces stashed in the freezer that i had forgotten about until now, so i will probably go eat them later.
derek’s parents came over for the dessert portion of the day. they did not get the best side of all of us… stuffed, sleepy, overwhelmed. annoyed at patrick mahomes. 🙂
on friday, we drove up to mount airy to check out the andy griffith museum. in my 22-ish years of living here, i have never been, but frankie is a huge andy griffith show fan, so it seemed like if there was ever a good time to make it happen, this was it. (ike, hazel, and grampa terry declined the invite).
after learning all there is to know about old andy, we hit up downtown mount airy. anna and i chilled at a coffee shop, listening to a random customer play christmas music on a piano, while the others perused the small town gift shops and such. we did however, meet them at an antique mall that went on and on and on for miles. we did not buy this fur coat, but we wanted to.
then, on saturday morning, they packed right up and drove home. and that’s the end of that.