Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 came and went pretty fast. But, it was pretty amazing! We knew very early on that the Saints were playing the Cowboys right here in Dallas, and that we wanted to go!! We realized rather quickly that it wasn't worth the $250 plus they were asking for noise bleed seats, so we resolved to have Thanksgiving at home and watch the game with family. But, as fate would have it, we scored 50 yard line seats in a suite with food and drinks included...for 6! Enough for everyone to go minus my sweet baby and sweet sister who stayed with him while we enjoyed the high life in the Death Star (aka Cowboy Stadium). Not only did we score these tickets, we scored parking right in front of the stadium. I really could have thrown a football at the stadium from where we were parked...and I throw like a girl!! This parking came in handy since it was brrrrr-freezing that day! I mean COLD! We ran into to some fellow Saints fans that were tailgating and my mom, Josh and Leonard got back in the car until we were ready to go into the stadium. Only the Marchands stayed outside, braved the cold and had some beverages :)

The view from the suite was amazing. It was really surreal. I couldn't believe I was going to watch my favorite team play from here. Add all of that + food + drinks + family = heaven! We had a great time. I'm not really sure we were supposed to jump up and down and yell and cheer as loud as we did. The other suite occupants, including the owner of said suite, (Cowboys fans) did not seem thrilled. In fact, after the game was over, they just got up and left. No good byes or anything. Sore losers? Who knows!? All I know is that we had a fantastic time despite some awkward moments with strangers and traffic nightmares!

Leonard and Michelle
Josh, me and mom

Gary and I...this was our view. OMG!

Since we went to the game on Thursday, we had our Thanksgiving on Friday. I woke up early Friday morning to cook the bird (that I brined for about 30 hours), make sweet potato casserole and stuffing. Michelle made mac n cheese, mom made mashed potatoes, Gina made green bean casserole and Leonard made dessert. Everything was incredible!!! I think this was by far THE tastiest Thanksgiving EVER! Yes, I want to go on record as saying this was the best feast EVER!

My bird.

Mmmmmmmm!

The table all fancied up.

The family eating.

Gavin reliving his fireman days.

Jack got plenty of turkey and some exercise in the park.

Random. This cracks me up. My sister started to put olives on her fingers and talk to Gavin. Then, when she...er...it was done talking, she would eat it! Gavin looked horrified the first time she did it!! So what did she do? Kept on doing it...who got involved??

"Apple", "Ma-maw", "Geeda" and Gavin. Weirdos ;)

After dinner on Friday, we went to get a Christmas tree at Home Depot...a Marchand family tradition since 2004. Michelle and Leonard came with us to help pick out the perfect tree! We also got a fire pit. Later that night after Gavin went to bed, we roasted marshmallows and made S'mores!

Our tree!

Gary got right on it and put all of the lights on. We decorated that weekend, too. Gary also put up our blow up snowman and lights around a tree outside. Everything looks great! What a fun weekend. I'm so glad everyone came in to spend this time with us, and I was so sad to see them go. But, we'll see them in about 3 weeks for Christmas!