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For breakfast I made pumpkin muffins and eggs...

Here are some beautiful flowers that Dad and Kyle bought Mom and I when they made a last minute run to the store Wednesday night to buy a turkey baster and meat thermometer. They were so sweet... even when they were having to fight people and traffic the night before Thanksgiving, they were still thinking of a way to bless us!

Here is our table all set today for lunch...

Close up...

Our Spread: Turkey and gravy, cornbread dressing, sweet potato pie, cream corn, and rolls.

Pecan pie and Pumpkin bread for dessert...

Here we are... about to enjoy all our yummy food!

Tuesday Kyle and I were both off work so we started the day trying out a new restaurant called Wild Eggs that makes only breakfast food. It was very yummy!

Kyle got a breakfast burrito that was excellent and super filling.

I enjoyed eggs, hash browns, and a bowl of fruit (not shown).

Next we went to Hobby Lobby and enjoyed shopping for Christmas decorations.

Mom and I found these adorable little snowmen chefs... perfect for our kitchens for the holidays!

On Wednesday night Mom and I got the turkey ready to cook all night. It turned out really yummy and slightly sweet.

I have to admit I was a little disgusted when I saw the turkey neck still in the bird! Ugh! I told Mom that she would have to pull it out!

A patient where I work told me that when he cooks his turkey he stuffs an apple inside to keep the meat moist. We decided to try it and it gave a light sweetness the meat. I'll definitely be trying that again!

Here is our beautiful bird at 4:30am this morning! We baked it at 500 for one hour and then turned down the heat to 250 and cooked it for five hours. Kyle and I got up during the night to pull it from the oven.

Yeah for Thanksgiving Day preparations!

On Monday night we celebrated my Dad's birthday. We enjoyed a fun dinner together after I got home from work and then we went to the mall and went shopping.

Dad requested a Banana Pudding for his birthday dessert. He was so excited about it! (Kyle was too! They cleared the entire bowl off that night!)

Yummy goodness!

Since we didn't have candles, Kyle imaginatively thought of him blowing out the lighter! ;-) It was too cute!
While we were at the mall we couldn't resist getting a few Christmas photos in front of the tree.

I love this picture of Mom and Dad! It has been so much fun and such a blessing to have them here with us!
Our first Christmas together as a married couple!

My parents drove in from Texas on this past Friday night and they are staying with us until this coming Saturday morning. We are so excited that they are here and we are enjoying our time with them. Kyle was blessed to have Monday and Tuesday off... and I've had today, Tuesday, off as well so we have been able to spend some good quality time with my parents. Tomorrow, while Kyle and I are at work, my Mom will be cooking; preparing for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and shopping.

My Dad LOVES to collect books! He is always finding great deals at Half Price Books. He has been collecting a stash to bring Kyle when they came. When he mentioned bringing a few books, I thought it would be maybe 5-6... however, he brought him a whole box full!

Here's Dad showing him the books...

I loved watching Kyle and Dad chatting and it meant so much to me that Kyle was able to appreciate and enjoy the same things as my Dad.

Bonding time... :-)

Another thing my parents brought us was a beautiful Christmas tree that my Mom had found in a garage sale for $7! You would never know that it was used though because it is still so lush and full! We are so excited about it!

Kyle and I decorating our tree.

Mom and Dad were so sweet to help us out!

Here it is all decorated! We don't have many ornaments yet, but we did buy a few with my parents at Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby. I'd rather it be a simple tree anyway... and I'm sure over the years we will have more than plenty of ornaments! We love our tree!

As I've been looking for more Thanksgiving Day ideas for food and decorations, I came across a post on GirlTalk from a few days ago. This link takes to you a post where Nicole lists some ideas that they do on Thanksgiving; including a link to their menu and a couple recipes.

Also, back in October they had a fall decorations contest. One of the table decorations is of several apples with a small hole cored in the top where you can place tea light candles. I thought this was a cute and cheap idea. I may do this myself for our special day. :-)

Here's a Pumpkin Brownie Recipe that I found that looks really yummy and that I might tweak so that we can eat it.

Lastly, here is a blog post I found from last year about creating a wonderful Thanksgiving meal gluten and dairy free... exactly what I'm looking for!

Here are a few pictures from last year's Thanksgiving Day in Texas that Kyle and I spent with my family:


Me, my Grandmother, my Mom... three generations cooking together for the holidays! This is my first year in 25 years that I won't be able to be in Texas, spending the holidays with my grandparents... wow... how life moves on! I'm so excited though that my parents are joining us here in Kentucky for Thanksgiving! It will be so special to have family around and we look forward to hopefully spending Christmas with Kyle's parents!

I've been spending the morning organizing our office, looking through recipes for Thanksgiving, and making plans for what to serve my parents next week for food while they are staying with us. We are so excited to have them here with us! They come in this Friday night and stay through the following Saturday when they will leave early that morning to make the long drive back to Texas.

While looking at the Food Network this morning for recipe ideas, I found this video about turkey brining. I've never done it before and it's a simple, interesting video about why and how to do it.

This morning I tried a new recipe for gluten free, diary free, sugar free Zucchini Bread Muffins. They turned out really yummy! Here's how they turned out: