mcbay thanksgiving

The McBay Family Thanksgiving was held at my  mom and dad's house on Saturday the 27th. There was good food, good company, and a great football game on tv. Everyone was able to be there except for my cousin Tricia and her daughter, Ayla. We had a good turn out and a lot of fun.

The screaming began around 2:30 when the Razorback vs LSU game came on. And the Hogs won! I am used to watching the games by myself or with the kids (and they could care less). So it was awesome getting to watch with almost my entire family.

We had Thanksgiving at Alex's Granny's house and my Memaw's on Thanksgiving day but I didn't bring my camera. We are blessed to have a large family that is full of great cooks. We played an intense game of Mad Gab at my Memaw's too. My Uncle and my Pepaw have been on my heart and mind this holiday season. I know they would be glad to see the family thriving and still thinking of their wonderful lives. One of the many things that brought my mind to Uncle T was that the band "The Smashing Pumpkins" was brought up during a game that we played. I  think I've told the story, but I will tell it again.  There used to be a restaurant in Daisy called the "Self Creek Restaurant" and we used to stop there to eat after church sometimes. My cousin Lindsey and I were talking about The Smashing Pumpkins and Uncle Tim laughed at the ridiculous name of the band. We went back and forth about bands and he said he could do us one better. He said there was a band named "Toad and the Wet Sprocket". Of course I laughed at him and didn't believe him. And then I saw them advertised on tv a while later. I will never forget that conversation. It's strange the things that stick with us.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hold on to your britches, Christmas will be here before you know it!

and so are the days of our lives

The title of this post is in honor of the moods that arose during our stay in Branson. Tiredness, sickness, and irritatedness (I know that's not a word, but I needed something to go with the flow) set in. Moods got the best of me at times, but I managed to enjoy a few things along the way. 

Alex and I got to go on the Branson Belle and had a good time. I didn't feel so great on the boat and for the rest of the night. I'm not sure what was wrong but it was short lived.

As you can see, maybe I wasn't the only one that was moody and tired.

dixie stampede

We took our first family vacation with my parents this past weekend. We went to Branson, MO for our annual Dixie Stampede Christmas. Olivia and the girls had fun looking at the horses. We settled in with our whole roasted chicken, potato, soup, and other overwhelming food items while we watched the show. Olivia has been asking for Santa for a while now and had said she wanted to sit in his lap and kiss him on the cheek. She watched at the end of the show as Santa came out in a horse drawn buggy and her jaw hit the floor. She was too amazed to speak and once she came to, she began to scream, "SANTA! SANTA, I LOVE YOU!!" and waved at him. She continued to scream for him as everyone was leaving the arena and some of the women down in front saw her and got Santa's attention for her. He waved at her and blew her a kiss. This all, of course, caused me to tear up. She was so thrilled to see him and it melted my heart. I love seeing the girls amazed year after year at the Dixie Stampede.

There are more Branson posts to come, so hang tight!

college buddies are the best

I am back tracking. Last Friday, Nan and Pop came up to watch the girls for us so that we could have dinner with some of our good college friends. We had made it a yearly tradition to get together around the holidays but skipped out on it last year.

We had a great dinner at Copelands followed by Orange Leaf and filled with great conversation!

I had a blast with my buddies and hope to see them again soon.

things we have done in November{just the girls}

Alex has been out of town all month and even a little before this month started. The girls and I stay pretty busy and I have a few photos from here and there.

Olivia played at the park last week. It had been raining most of the morning but cleared up in time for her to eat her picnic lunch and play. She loved it.

This is another after church picture. It has become a tradition for us to eat lunch at Pasta Jack's after church on Sundays because Abi has cheer practice at 1:30 on Sundays.

Funny story behind these pictures:

I asked Olivia to go lay in her bed one day and I would come turn on some cartoons. I knew that she looked exhausted and I hoped my plan would work. And it did! I went in her room (about half an hour later) and she was snoozing. And she looked like she fell asleep while patiently waiting......

Abi loves her American Girl Doll, Felicity. She tucked her in well before going to sleep. This is how I found her when I went to wake her for school.

Guess where we had dinner. The girls and I treated ourselves to a date night on Saturday and had Macaroni Grill. They love coloring on the "tablecloth". And then we looked around in Barnes and Noble. It was a very pleasant evening.

We have exciting times coming up. Alex is scheduled to come home Friday and we are glad becasue he will have been gone for 4 weeks.  And Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Have a great week.