Get Carried Away

We had an awesome-blossom Thanksgiving this year!

Day-of, I went over to Mom's house to help cook the entire meal. My dad said I was "MIT, or Mom in Training." Holy c-rap is that a lot of work! We cooked from 9a.m. to 4p.m. The meal turned out delicious- turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, cranberries, that green bean casserole we have at every holiday dinner, and mom's infamous lime jello with carrots and purple eggs. The lime jello and purple eggs are two traditions that will definitely die when my sisters and I take over making the meal! So we all said grace, sat down, and demolished the food within minutes. Honestly, twenty minutes later and everyone's grabbing their bellies exclaiming how full they are. Hours and hours of work for twenty minutes of eating and subsequent uncomfortableness. Luckily, cooking gets you out of doing dishes in our house, so I sat down with some pie and enjoyed some early Christmas carols.
Friday morning we left early to visit Nick's entire family in Yosemite. It's an O'Neil/Braun family tradition to spend Thanksgiving in Wawona, this tiny town about 22 minutes outside the valley. And when I say entire family, I mean ENTIRE family! Nick's the 8th of 9 kids, his mom is the 2nd of 9 kids. So there are seriously like 60 people who are all immediately related and they take over Wawona. It's super fun. Friday was mostly driving and eating dinner with the whole crew. Saturday we hiked to the swinging bridge, went to the family soccer game, and had dinner all together again. I went to bed before a hilarious game of charades :( but sleep was beckoning. I also spent all weekend holding baby Fiona, our neice and goddaughter. She's barely two months old and absolutely adorable. So ridiculous to think that in less than a year, we'll have one of our own- SCARY! Drove home on Sunday.
Here are the things I learned during our Thanksgiving weekend...
1. I miss my family more than I thought. Being at home all day on Thanksgiving felt so comforting, and then Nick and I had to leave to pack before my sisters and I upheld our annual tradition of watching Little Women and falling asleep. I cried the whole way home.
2. We need an Ipod adapter for long car rides. Nick's CD collection is definitely NOT the reason I married him :)
3. I love big families and I really hope we find a way to afford more than 1 child!
4. Hiking is amazing, but I have to constantly remind myself to stop and look around. Otherwise, all I remember from hikes is the ground because I'm so afraid I'm going to eat it that I forget to look at all the beauty around me.
5. Husbands never forget totally embarassing stories, like last year when we were doing the same hike and I had to pee so bad that I went off the trail to relieve myself, and I peed on my sock. Thanks for bringing that up, honey. This year I peed twice before we left.
6. Last, but not least, it's not helpful to pack your camera if it never leaves your backpack. Hence, no pictures. I apologize. I promise to be better!

Hope you and your had a beautiful Thanksgiving- can't wait to hear about everyone's adventures!

Just months after tying the knot, Baby Braun is on the way! Yippee! This was definitely unexpected, though definitely wanted! Stay tuned for updates and pictures of my hugeness :)