While Thanksgiving this year was smaller than usual, we were still really lucky that our Thanksgiving buddies from our Colombia tour were also here in Virginia, and we were able to celebrate with them as well as with my family.
We started the day off at our house, hosting our friends for breakfast and the parade. I'm glad I only did breakfast and stuffing, because the kitchen was chaotic enough with just that.
Our parade tradition involves recording it, so that we can start when we're ready and fast forward through the commercials we're not interested in, so the parade was ready when the food and drinks were ready.
I'm so glad they didn't cancel the parade, since they've had to cancel so many things this year. It is one of my favorite parts of the holiday, and the girls get into it too.
I also love that they included some archived footage of the original parades.
And the Christmas season got off to a great start with a reminder of our wonderful time in Central Park accompanied by a short dance from The Nutcracker.
In the afternoon, we headed over to my parents' house for more food. Vivian and I walked to help earn those extra calories, and Jeff and Elena rode with our friends to show them the way. There was plenty of food to enjoy once we got there.
After feasting, the whole family walked home together. It was a fun ending to a great holiday.
Of course, no sooner were we done with one holiday, then Vivian was clamoring about the next one. She REALLY wanted us to get a Christmas tree as soon as possible. In the past, we had gotten our tree at the Methodist church near us, so we waited until the weekend after Thanksgiving, when we saw they had them up, and then we headed over to pick our tree.
The girls quickly picked a winner. Vivian led the way, but Elena's opinion was equally important, since this was her first REAL tree, and it will probably be our last real tree for quite a while.
We like to get our trees there, because they're really fresh, the people are super friendly, and we feel like the profits go to a good cause. Of course, when the guys who put the tree on the roof of Jeff's car joked that it was guaranteed to get out of the parking lot, he and I gave each other nervous smiles.
When he turned onto Route 7, the tree rolled a little to one side, and I spent the rest of the short and slow ride home holding on to it through the sunroof for safe measure. We got it home without incident though, and then worked on the challenge of getting it to stand upright in the stand. Finally, we got it.
Vivian wanted MORE Christmas. Luckily, Jeff had found some solar powered outdoor lights for our trees and bushes, so the two of them went outside to work on setting them up.
They're not super big and bright, but they're pretty and environmentally friendly, so we're happy with them.
The girls' hunger for Christmas could not be contained, and I wasn't ready yet to get all the decorations down from the attic, so I sent them and their enthusiasm to my family. First, they decorated my sister's tree.
Then, they decorated at my parents' house.
Eventually, they were returned to me with their Christmas appetites at least temporarily sated. The holiday season was off to a great start.
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