Thanksgiving

We spent much of Thanksgiving week at the Jorgensen's house.  The Mealeys were in town, too.  Luckily, we figured out a good sleeping arrangement for all the kiddos.  Alayne convinced me about a month ago to run a 5K on Thanksgiving morning.  I decided to do it.  I started "training."  I hate running so I don't know why I agreed to do it, but I'm glad I did.  It was so much fun.  The race was held at the Texas Motor Speedway.  We got to run on the track.  That place is massive.  It was crazy how one lap around is 1.5 miles!  Alayne, Mike, Marina, Whitlee, her niece, Ivy and I ran together.  Well, we all kind of split off.  Whitlee, Marina and I ran together for a while.  Alayne and Mike took off.  Ivy ran with some of her friends .  I slowed down a bit on the first lap and lost them, but I kept running the entire lap.  After the first lap, I grabbed some water and walked for just a bit.  I spotted Whitlee and Marina so I sprinted to them.  We would sprint, walk, sprint walk for the rest of the race.  It worked well and I think we finished the second lap faster than the first even though we walked some.  As we sprinted through the finish line and I saw that the time was 39 minutes I became very excited.  I thought for sure I would finish closer to an hour.  Haha.  I almost threw up, but held it together.  We stretched some and then headed home to prepare for a yummy Thanksgiving feast.  Of course, we stopped for donuts on the way home.  We thought it was kind of silly to walk into a donut shop in racing gear, but they were delicious.
We all took turns showering and in the kitchen preparing different parts of the feast.  I got to make some delicious rolls that were a hit.  We had yummy turkey, potatoes, ham, mac and cheese, yams, corn and much more.  Karen's mom and sister, Sharon and her family joined us.  It was a delicious meal, but I was kind of sad to not have Dru with us.
I was able to take some family pictures of the Mealeys.  While Aaron wasn't the most cooperative (imagine that from a 2 year old) we did manage to get a few good ones.  I also had the opportunity to take pictures of an old friend from high school and her family.  She has 2 little ones, so it was a little difficult.  We also did those pictures at high noon so the light was way harsh.  But, we got some keepers.  It was fun practice.  I'm still learning a lot.
We also went on a mini train ride in Fort Worth.  We've been on this train once before, but this time was interesting.  The cart that I was on with Dalia came off the track!  I thought we were going to tip over.  On top of that, Dalia was way over tired and being terrible.  We had to yell at the conductor to stop twice before he walked all the way to the back and figured out what had happened.  Everyone got off for a while and eventually we all got back on, but up to the front of the train.  Mikey, Harlow and a few other guys lifted the cart back onto the track.  It was a tense ride back, maybe only for me, but I was definitely tense.  We had to cross TWO bridges to get back.  Needless to say, I will never be riding that train again.  Ever.
The girls liked going outside to jump on the trampoline and play in the leaves.  They also enjoyed playing with all of grandma's toys and doing puzzles.  It was a wonderful week.

The next week, while spending some more time at the Jorgensen's, we were able to go see a Texas version of "The Night Before Christmas" that this neighborhood puts on.  Every house in this neighborhood decorates their home and/or yard.  You drive through the neighborhood and read the story posted on several of the lawns.  There is one home, though, that is the crown jewel.  This house goes all out and it is a literal winter wonderland.  People get out of their cars to walk through the yard and there is so much to see.  Moving fixtures, lights, fake snow, trains, you name it.  It is amazing and we had a wonderful time.  Photos don't do it justice.