Thanksgiving

We were so excited to go up to New York to visit Joe's parents for Thanksgiving. They have moved into Grandpa Joe's old farm house and are making a few improvements. I have always thought that I was meant to be a farm girl, and I was so excited that I could spend a little time on an actual farm.

How cute is this little farm house? The wrap around porch is new and I love it!

They just recently tore down the old barn and build your traditional (giant) barn, white trim and all. 

However, because of all the renovations this was just shy of a traditional Thanksgiving. The living room furniture was all piled in the middle of the room to allow space for painting, and the whole kitchen was stuffed in the remaining space in the dining room and living room. We had no kitchen to work with because that was the one thing under major construction. Jean was able to convince the workers to leave the oven in so we could at least use it for the turkey.

Our make shift kitchen.

"kitchen sink" in the bathroom...

Keith cut the upside down bird (an experiment I heard about. It makes the white meat more juicy, but  it doesn't come out very pretty)

Our best attempt at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

We had a few things come from cans, a few things pre-made, and used a griddle to do the rest. It was a surprisingly delicious success.
The rest of our time at the house was spent enjoying the freshly fallen snow. Joe went out hunting a few times, and I got to relax a lot.
We got out the guns and shot at a target off the back porch. My first time with a shotgun, and I didn't do too bad.

AJ watching from inside.

You can see the j (for Joe) and E (for Emily) and can see just how good we did. 

 We had a fire every night and AJ loved helping Grandpa bring in the wood from outside. It took him a few trips, but we eventually had a nice rolling fire.

 AJ spent Black Friday with Grandma while Rebecca and I went shopping in Buffalo. We spent our time as two pregos searching for all the good maternity deals. I came home with more than I packed for the trip. AJ went to the farming surplus store and got some super cute John Deere socks, a little plastic calf and lamb, and some good ol' farm boots. He loves his boots and hates going anywhere without them.

 To have a real farm experience we had to take a ride on the tractor. Grandpa got it out of the barn, filled it up with gas and took AJ for a little stroll. He loved it and cried his eyes out when he had to get off.

I will have to admit that just relaxing with loved ones around was the best part. Noting beats family and a warm cozy house during a snow storm. 

Rebecca and I even did each other's toes. 

Thanks Jean and Keith for having us. We truly had a blast and can't wait to come back in the spring to see all the improvements and help with the garden!