Happy Late Thanksgiving

Happy late Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday spent with the people who mean the most to you. We are still in Maine enjoying a wonderful visit with our families. We got in Wednesday evening and will head home tomorrow morning -- early!
Thursday was spent preparing for the incredible feast that is what Thanksgiving is all about. My mother in law hosted 24 people and cooked over 30 pounds of turkey! The afternoon and evening was filled with food, a dessert contest, and a lighting ceremony. The dessert contest is a long tradition. My brother in law, Randy, and I started this contest years ago. It all began with pie crust. We were probably both still in high school when the challenge started. So this year I called for a pie contest between the two of us. Everyone else who entered made any kind of dessert they wanted but Randy and I made pies. I made the Pioneer Woman's Scrumptious Apple Pie. Randy made a strawberry apple pie. Neither of us knew what the other was making so it's pretty comical that we both made apple pies! I'll admit that my pie crust came out really good, but Randy's came out better -- he won the contest. All of the desserts looked fabulous - I couldn't eat any of them - I was way too full!! After the contest we all went outside where my father in law plugged in the lights that he worked so hard to put up for us to enjoy. They looked great! The kids were signing Christmas carols and dancing with the music.
Friday morning my mom, Robby's girlfriend, Sara, and I went shopping. Sara is such a nice girl who is just crazy about my goofy brother. They go together so well. I was glad to spend some time with her. We found some good bargains too! After shopping we went back to my parents' house to decorate their Christmas tree. The girls enjoyed that! Then it was off to dinner at the Sea Dog - YUM!
Today has been busy but laid back too. We went to Ed's other brother's house (Keith) where the girls rode horses and played with chickens! Keith and Erica's house is in the most beautiful location. The long driveway winds just enough to hide the house from the street. As you round the corner a clearing appears. The house sits in the clearing surrounded by more trees. There's a little pond, big boulders, and lots of quiet. The back yard slopes down to where Keith and Erica have cleared a pasture for the horses. It isn't your typical flat corral type pasture. It rolls through the hilly woods. The horses enjoy the shelter of the trees as well the openness of a small clearing. My girls had a blast riding Cash. My sister in law, Erica, has been around horses most of her life and has owned Cash for 13 years. She is so good with the girls and showing them what to do. I would say the best part of the time there was being with Jocelyn and Chase. Jocelyn is 2 1/2 and Chase is 1. They are both so very sweet and lovable. I will post pictures as soon as I get home. It was absolutely wonderful spending time with them!
Tonight we are heading to a Portland Pirate's hockey. We'll get to see our dear friends, Chris, Michelle, and Hayley Wheeler! Both of Ed's brothers are going too - so all together there will be 17 of us at the game! Fun times.
Tomorrow morning we are heading out as early as we can possibly get ourselves out the door. We've all eaten too much and stayed up too late. We need to recuperate a tad before school and work on Monday!!