A Young Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is normally a holiday my family travels for. Not to visit family, usually, but to get away from it all. In high school, it was typically Italy we went to, later when I was in college it was New Orleans, or somewhere else across the US. Last year, we were in Amarillo and had a great time. We had a full house-my cousin and her husband came down from Oklahoma, and Adam's parents and oldest brother joined us too. This year, with the O'Connells in DC, we were invited to join Shannon and Kyle once again for Thanksgiving, this time at their place in Oklahoma City. We were all a little nervous since it was four 20-somethings with no Thanksgiving experience making everything. We soon discovered our apprehension was unfounded---Shannon did an amazing job with all the food, just look at that turkey!!!

I was very proud, because this year I attempted to make a pumpkin cheesecake, my first ever. It turned out to be fabulous!!! I think I found a new Owens tradition!

The weekend was so much fun, Adam and Kyle conquered a puzzle and braved Black Friday for a new one (yes, really), we had hobo dinners in their backyard firepit, and even went out to find their very first real Christmas Tree. We also discovered the magic that is Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate coffee! Meg was a doll the whole time. I couldn't believe how much bigger she had gotten in the last 3 months! She just quietly sits and observes, taking everything in.

Of all the pictures I caught this weekend, this one was definitely my favorite....

We had a wonderful time, and it lasted just long enough. On the drive away, I immediately popped in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Album, and began dreaming up our plans to hang Christmas lights and put out all our Holiday decorations. I LOVE this time of year!

Ghosts, and Goblins, and Trick-or-Treaters Oh My

Halloween--easily one of Adam's favorite holidays, and who can argue with that? You get to dress up, act ridiculous, dance around and be silly---people expect it of you! We had grand plans for this years costumes, but they turned out to be a bit too grand, so we stepped it down a notch and went with our backups. The week before Halloween, every year, our friends the Leslies have a big blow out bash in honor of Matt's birthday. The only rule, you MUST dress up. (Let me remind you, that within our circle of friends, we tend to be the youngest, these are our heroes, people in their 30s committed to dressing up for Halloween)This year Adam and I went as Bunnicula and Raggedy Anne--a total success! Adam even went so far as to wear prosthetic vampire teeth! On the way to the Leslies, we were stopped at a stoplight when a car next to us motioned for us to roll down the window so that they might take our picture. It took me a minute to figure out why, I had forgotten for a moment that I was wearing yarn hair in pigtails and Adam was sporting some bunny ears as we made our way down Seminary.

The party was great, as it always was, dancing, a fire in the backyard, and as many taquitos as you could possibly want, haha. Of our friends who attended, we had, Super Woman after 3 kids, Michael Jackson (obviously my favorite), Wall St, Lady Gaga, Rosie the Riveter, and Marla via Fightclub.

Though there is no telling where we will be for Halloween next year, our costume plans are already forming and we will only be going for bigger and better!