And now there are two. The holiday was wonderful for me and I hope for you as well. It was a full house with 2 sons, 2 girlfriends and 1 grand kitty. Our first time to have Thanksgiving in our home in years as we usually have traveled on Thanksgiving to someplace warmer. This year it was a pleasure to have it at home.
Aaron came early and helped with a few projects. Wait—more than a few projects. He is always eager and willing to do those jobs that are easier done with two or three people and we saved those for him.
Kitchen before–you can barely see the chandelier but it was huge!
Kitchen after with pretty red pendants (low light when I took the picture but you get the idea.)
Probably the biggest project was replacing two chandeliers that were a bit overwhelming in both the kitchen and dining room. Our furniture is a bit bigger than what the previous owners had, I think, and the lights were just too big. With smaller fixtures in a lighter tone it opens up the space a bit more and I love the end results. Now to slowly replace the rest of the fixtures in the house.
Dining room before
dining room after
We had a feast for Thanksgiving, of course, because I love to cook for everyone and I spent the day before getting everything ready that I could prepare ahead of time. I had some winning dishes if I must say so myself. Along with both turkey and ham we had the traditional green bean casserole, the best mashed potatoes I have ever made in my life, Au Gratin Sweet Potato Casserole from Iowa Girl Eats, JeniEat’s stuffing with Kielbasa, salad, banana bread, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and piecaken. If you missed my piecaken adventure I decided at the last minute to make it and found I had given away my spring form pan so my friend Marci came to the rescue. Thank goodness for new friends. My creation turned out quite well but it is rich and I could only eat a tiny piece. 
Check out my video of the creation.
.On Friday we hung around the house until later in the day when we went to downtown Brevard to their 4th Friday Art Walk and had dinner at one of our favorites places The Square Root. If you are ever in town I would highly recommend a meal at this unique eatery which is one of the best in town. The evening was topped off with a s’more session in the back yard.
Saturday we spent the afternoon and evening at The Biltmore in Asheville. I have written about a previous visit here and it is quickly becoming my favorite place. We toured the house, the winery, the gardens and made it to dinner at The Bistro for another wonderful meal. My heart was so happy that this day turned out exactly like I had hoped. It was the very first time all 6 of us had been together for any length of time and it was so much fun. 
But today as Buddy sleeps next to me on the couch recovering from the antics of Diego the kitten I reflect on how thankful I am for the year that we have had, the family that we call ours and the life that we are living. In all things give thanks. In ALL things.
Micah did a quick video of Buddy and Diego. Hopefully you can enjoy their antics when you click.
