Thanksgiving Post

Nick and I spent a fun Thanksgiving in Iowa. Erin surprised us by flying in on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday night so she and I spent Wednesday Christmas shopping. The idea was that she could buy presents and leave them at our house so she didn't have to travel with them when she comes back for Christmas but I brainwashed her into only buying presents for Nick and me so I think it was only partly successful. The good news is that the stores were empty yet full of good deals so I at least got some meaningful shopping done. :)

When Nick got home from work we headed down to Iowa for the real celebration. We had a close call on the way down. Minutes after we missed the exit where we were planning to stop to eat and gas up the car, my gas light went on. Since we were in rural Iowa, of course the next 5 exits that we passed had no gas station or lights whatsoever (the exit we were planning on stopping at is "the exit" in this part of Iowa and has about 10 fast food places, a Perkins, and multiple gas stations. Everyone stops there so there is nothing else nearby). Finally we were saved by the town of Hampton. We stopped at the BP station there (wondering if that is the one our friend Rob used to work at) and put 11.25 gallons into my 12 gallon tank. What a relief. The rest of the journey was thankfully incident-free.

Thanksgiving morning we went to church and I got a tour of the parish, including the basement and the area behind the alter. After that it was turkey and naps for everyone, followed by a visit to Grandma's house and putting up the tree at Nick's parent's house. On Friday I took my first-ever trip into Carroll. We ate at a Chinese restaurant and made plans to come back later to see Casino Royale, my first-ever James Bond movie. I'll be perfectly honest, I went into it expecting not to like it. But Daniel Craig drew me in and I ended up really enjoying myself. I don't think I could watch the fight scenes again without getting bored, but the first time around was very enjoyable.

Getting attacked by the Bobsey Twins on Thanksgiving morning.


Erin divides up the childhood ornaments of her and her brothers.

And that was Thanksgiving. On Saturday morning we ate leftover turkey and then said good-bye. Erin hung out with us on Saturday night, helping us clean up the place and start decorating for Christmas (yes we are excellent hosts). Today we dropped her off at the airport and got our own tree from the tree lot and put that up, then just sat around and enjoyed spending a non-work day at home!