Thanksgiving...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  The meal turned out perfectly... if I do say so myself.  :-)  Henry helped with every single dish we made and/ or baked.  It really is great having his help in the kitchen since it's actually becoming that... help.  I hope it's a tradition he and I share forever.

Mr. Silly helping with the apple pie...

Our pumpkin pie, fresh out of the oven!

Henry helping with the sweet potato dish...

Again with the sillies...

Pete was our Official Taste Tester... a job he enjoys very much!

Charlie hoping for scraps...

The line up...

Gobble, gobble!

After dinner, with full bellies...

Charlie and James waiting for the
Palazzinis to join us for apple and pumpkin pie!

On Friday morning we woke up and decorated the house for Christmas together.  The boys LOVE dragging out all of the decorations and tree and ornaments.  We played Christmas music and then watched "A Christmas Story" to get us in the mood.

Later in the day, we went downtown for the annual "A Dicken's Holiday" festival.  I'm so glad we went, especially since the kids and I weren't all that jazzed about going.  There were tons of people, some of whom were dressed in old-fashioned clothing, leading the parade and story-time.

We bumped into James's soccer coach and his
kids all dressed up for the special parade!

They handed out thousands of candles and once it became dark, everyone in the crowd lit theirs.  It was beautiful... but I always find it hard to get pictures of since everything ends up looking black.  These pictures really don't do it justice since it was so much prettier in person.

The boys with candles...

After the candle ceremony, they set off a bunch of fireworks over Town Hall to kick off the holiday season...

It was such a fun and festive way to welcome the holiday season.  The only thing missing was all of our family...