Thanksgiving 2010

*Disclaimer: This post will be VERY long.

This year, our Thanksgiving was a little different than usual. Usually, Ben and I would go to my extended families in Addison, Alabama for lunch, and then we would head to Huntsville that evening for Thanksgivining Dinner with Ben's grandparents/family. This year, everything was different.

Earlier in the week, we found out that my Great Granny Hyatt had passed away. She was 92 years old, still lived by herself, still drove herself to church, still traveled with her choir group..pretty much still lived completely independently. We were shocked to hear the news, and of course very sad. Her visitation was planned for the day after Thanksgiving with the funeral being the next day. So, we didn't all get together on Thanksgiving Day like usual.

Ben and I started the day off by going to his family Thanksgiving for lunch. Instead of going to Huntsville to Ben's grandparents, everyone went to his aunts mom's house and had Thanksgiving with both families. YUMMM... just thinking of the food they had makes my mouth water. It was deeelicious to say the least. I wish I had $1 for everytime I said "Oh my gosh, I have to have this recipe," after each new bite of something. Somehow, I left with no recipes! haha Hum..I'll have to work on that. But, overall, we had a great time visiting with Ben's family and others. It was neat to do something a little different this year!

Here are a couple of pictures we took outside of Ben's house when we got home. We attempted to get one with all of Ben's siblings + me + all of the dogs. It was tough, but I managed to get a decent one. I'm thinking Ben's mom got an even better one on her camera..

And, look at this picture of Mrs. Adams with her grand-dog Emma. I love this picture!!

Emma loves to visit Ben's parents. They spoil her a little more than Ben and I do. Afterall, I guess thats what grandparents are for!

Since my parents had just moved down to the beach (more on that later) they spent Thanksgiving day traveling back to Decatur for all of the funeral arrangements. When they made it back that evening, we all met over at my grandparents house for a mini, low key thanksgiving meal. My grandmother is such a good cook.. I hope I'm as good as her one day! Here is a picture of the girls after we had finished eating. We were skyping my uncle, aunt and cousin who live in Atlanta and were planning on driving over the next day.

Ben and I headed over to my sister's house that night to spend the night because my sister and I had planned on getting up super early to try to catch some of the Black Friday sales. We stayed in my neice, Kayli's room. Wow. Is all I have to say to that. I forgot what it was like to be 12....Here's a glimpse for you..
To say she is obsessed with Justin Bieber is an understatement. haha I think she said there were like 100 something posters...wonder when this fad will fade...At least she has it all looking so cute in there! I will admit, Ben said he was a little freaked out having Justin stare at him while he slept... haha

So the next morning, my sister and I woke up at 4 AM! We decided to go to Kmart thinking that the crowd wouldn't be as bad there as it would be at Walmart and Target. Wrong. When we got there, the line was already down the side of the building. It was FREEEZING and RAINING that morning too, so we left, got a biscuit, ate it in the car and then toughed it out standing in the line for 10 minutes before it opened at 5. I asked someone to take our picture for us while we waited. I am so mad that the flash wasn't on so the picture is kind of dark. Oh well, at least I have it documented that we actually made it up and out that early!
People were crraazy that morning. I saw people shoving, cussing, and yelling over some playstation 3 or something. I don't understand those people. My sister and I just went on our way and ended up getting one of the things we went for, so it was a success for us! We then headed to Target, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Lowes, Books-A-Million, TJ Maxx, and the mall. We got some pretty good deals and a jump start on our Christmas shopping so I was pleased!

We made it home just in time to watch the Iron Bowl. Wow. That game almost gave me a heart attack, but I was so glad my Auburn Tigers pulled through. When it was over I told Ben that I really don't think its all about "winning that game." I think its more about "not losing to Alabama." At least thats how I felt.

After the game was over, we headed to Addison for Great Granny Hyatt's visitation and then headed to the funeral the next morning. Great Granny Hyatt loooved to sing. She sang in a huge choir, and one of her requests was to have the choir sing for an hour before the funeral started. We had another visitation during that time. I would give anything in the world to have a recording of the singing. It was by far the most unbelievable thing I've ever heard. I never expected it to be as great as it was. The choir was made up of a lot of seniors, but mixed in the bunch were a few young guys around my age. They all sang their hearts out. Nobody held back. It was so loud and so powerful. Now I really understand why she had such a love for that group.

The funeral was perfect and really showcased what a loving, caring, and Godly woman Great Granny Hyatt was. She will definitely be missed.

Here is a picture of Great Granny Hyatt and Ben dancing at Thanksgiving a year ago. She loved dancing with him; she even stole a dance with him at our wedding!

We love you Great Granny Hyatt!

So there you have it. Our Thanksgiving this year was definitely different. Some things were good, some not so great, but regardless, we have so much to be thankful for!