Thanksgiving 2011

We got to spend Thanksgiving in Olympia with the Madill's, Papa, and Grandma Jeanne. We loved being there and really didn't want to leave! We got there Thursday and arrived just in time to help (but just a little) with dinner. We ate a great meal and then Mandy had a few fun food crafts planned for the kids. We decorated gingerbread houses and made tee-pees. After a little while, it was time to head home, get the kids to bed, and start shopping!




We went to Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, and Target. We had a pretty long list that we were expecting to get half of...but something magical happened and we got everything on our list (and a lot of stuff that wasn't on our lists either...we had no idea we wanted it!). We (we went with Mandy and Chris while the Grandmas watched the kids) barely fit in the Chris's car on the way home (after a few bikes, an office chair, a piano keyboard, a basketball hoop for Hudson, a shark mop, a little vacuum, and even more, I really didn't think we could fit everything in. But that Buick really impressed me...or maybe it was just Chris's packing skills, but we fit (and we were even buckled!)

At around 1:30AM we headed to the mall. This is when we realized we were old and really tired. Mat went to Best Buy and I went to Old Navy. We found what was on our list (magical, really), but then we saw the line. It would have taken us probably an hour to get through the lines...so we went through the next best option...hiding. We hid our stuff in our respective stores and decided to come back the next day for real Black Friday (we were going to a movie at the mall later that morning). So we came back the next morning, and our hiding spots were really good or we were that good...because there was our stuff....we waited 10 minutes in line and we were done!

Mat's hiding spot...it was a good one!

Later in the day, we went and visited Scott at the fire station. It was so fun to see those cute little kids and that huge fire truck!


p.s. i like that I'm in the reflection trying my best to get him to smile...as you can see, it didn't work.



The next day Grandma Jeanne and Papa watched our kids (again) so Mat and I could go out shooting with Ryan, Lindsey, Scott and Stacy. It was so fun! Highlight of the day....

Bri: So, where does the bullet go when you fire a warning shot?
Ryan (a state trooper): We don't fire warning shots.
Mat: Yeah, they shoot to kill.
Ryan: We don't shoot to kill!



So although our knowledge of police protocols is limited, we had a great time!

Second best part of the day...we went to go pick up our TV from Best Buy after shooting...and we opened our truck to slide the TV in...and our trunk was full of guns. People may have looked at us wearily...