Thanksgiving and Black Friday

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Lots of family, lots of food, lots of blessings!

At about 2 AM on Thanksgiving day, my mom and my younger brother arrived at our home. We visited for awhile, then went to bed, only to have Charlie wake up at 8 AM (instead of the usual 9). We then headed out to my aunt's house for a big family gathering. We had so much fun, eating, visiting, and playing bingo. Even the kids got to play! Chuck played so well, he quit so it'd be fair for everyone else. Hehe. He bingo-ed 4 times! Anyhow, as we headed back to San Antonio, the dopamine kicked in and Mom, Adam, Charlie & Chance quickly fell asleep and slept the entire hour + drive home. I wish I'd gotten a picture of that.


[Mom helps Chance play bingo. He really enjoyed it, much more than I expected him to.]


[Chuck and Adam concentrate hard on their bingo cards.]


[Our attempt at a family photo...There's always at least one kid that doesn't want to cooperate!]

Black Friday was also an interesting day. For some time now we've been wanting to get a laptop, so we could run Windows (we only have Linux and Macs), in order to run some photo software, etc. So when Chuck saw that Best Buy had two kinds for $400, he decided to get up at 2 AM and stand in line in the freezing cold, hoping to get a voucher for one of them. By 4 AM he realized that he was too far back, they were already sold out. Obviously, this was quite disappointing, but I wanted to record it because then something amazing happened. He went over to Wal-Mart...and not just any Wal-Mart, but the Boerne Wal-Mart in hopes that it wouldn't be as busy as all of the San Antonio ones. The nice thing was, it was already open, so he was able to wait inside in the warmth. And he had seen that they also had a laptop on sale, but no specs were given, as it was a "secret" sale (Wal-Mart didn't want people to know in advance). So he waited until 5 AM sale time, where he was the first in line for a laptop that cost $388. The amazing thing is, it's actually a better value than the other two that were being sold at Best Buy. It was a neat twist, I think...kinda like the underdog still claimed the victory. So that was our Black Friday adventure.

We spent the rest of Friday making a gingerbread house, cooking our own Thanksgiving dinner, and then exchanging Christmas gifts. Definitely the epitome of family time. :) Today has been equally as fun. First, Mom got up with the boys, allowing Chuck and me to sleep in. Then they made us breakfast, and served it to us in bed, that was a neat experience! Of course, Chance wanted to sit with us and eat all of our food. He even took off with my milk and drank it all. Ha! Later Chuck and I went on a date to lunch and shop a little more, and then this evening, we all went to church. Charlie was excited about the kids' time that they had tonight, and my mom was happy to hear Max Lucado preach for the first time (she's a big fan). Afterwards, we drove to Boerne to check out the "Dickens on the Main" Christmas festival in the downtown area...but the weather made us decide to come home. It's misting and about 40 degrees...not good weather to get the boys out in. But they did enjoy all of the Christmas lights, so it was worth the trip.


[The Thier Paparazzi in Action!]


[Adam helps Chance open his gifts.]


[Charlie puts together a gift from Granny and Bubba.]


[Adam "Bubba" shows off one of his gifts.]


[My first experiment in Photoshop Elements...and a pic of Charlie thanking Granny.]


[Chance, enjoying the playground at church.]

So that was our eventful and blessed holiday. What'd you do for yours?