Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving 2012 and we have lots to be thankful for! We have each other, our families, a home, jobs, love & most importantly, GOD. We had a low key Thanksgiving this year. We did not travel to Columbia to be with the rest of my family, but instead spent a lovely, quiet holiday with Grandma.

We slept in, had breakfast, sipped coffee and read the 709097987 lbs of sales papers! Early afternoon we headed to Grandma's house to hang out with her and get ready for our Thanksgiving dinner. This handsome boy is too cute in his Thanksgiving attire.

Since it was just the four of us (two of which don't eat very much), Dan decided that we shouldn't waste the money and food in cooking a big meal at home. Instead, he treated us to a very fancy dinner at Grill 225 at the Market Pavilion Hotel downtown. We waited patiently for our dinner reservations and had a very lovely meal. Although it wasn't exactly the usual Thanksgiving dishes, it was good none the less. Sushi on any day is good with me!

Daddy & Stryker waiting on dinner

After our dinner, we decided to go to James Island for the Festival of Lights. We drove around the park and looked at all the beautiful displays. It wasn't that crowded (surprisingly enough) and we were able to get out the car and walk around the shops and through the Enchanted Forest filled with more light displays. We came across Stryker's favorite... A fire truck! He insisted I take a couple pictures.

Although it wasn't a traditional Thanksgiving holiday, it was full of fun, good food, family and most of all LOVE and GRATITUDE. We are very blessed to have each other and a wonderful life! I couldn't be more thankful for my special little man too! And it really warmed my heart to see what he is thankful for this year.

Carolina Football

WOW! Stryker is one lucky guy! He got to attend his very first USC Football game today! Aunt Lorie was able to get tickets for the Furman/USC game. It was also Military Appreciation Day so there were some very special moments as well. 

We headed out early for Columbia after a quick breakfast at Waffle House. We met up with Aunt Lorie, Peyton and Maddison and headed to the stadium and game time! The boys were pretty excited as we walked up to Williams Brice and to find our seats. We were alllll the way up top and they hung in there for the climb. We found our seats just in time to hear 2001 and see Cocky appear and the players run out. Stryker was super excited for Cocky!

 Stryker's First USC Game

My nephew is something else... He's quite the hoot! He spent the first two quarters of the game eating all our snacks! LOL! Near the end of the second quarter, he looks at Lorie and says "Mom, when's the game going to start?" We all busted out laughing at that one. It wasn't exactly a fast moving or exciting game, so his question was very valid! 

 Little Miss stayed snugly warm close to Mommy. She was a trooper for the game and I didn't hear a peep out of her the whole game. I think she was intrigued by her new surroundings.

A panoramic of the game

Daddy & his little Gamecock fan (who wouldn't look at the camera!)

Watching the game

The Honour's

I LOVE Military Appreciation Football Game days. What a very special halftime show the USC Marching Band put on! They also invited the bands from the different branches of military to play as well. It was so touching. They honored injured soldiers, veterans and those active duty members that are currently serving. I surely enjoyed every minute of the entire halftime show and I think the boys did as well! The best part, a fly over to end the show. They REALLY loved that!

We had such a good time and I can't wait to take my little man to Death Valley to see the Tigers play. But in the meantime, our little Gamecock couldn't have been happier that day! Thanks to Aunt Lorie who made it happen!