Happy Thanksgiving & Braving the Shopping Crowds

Happy Thanksgiving from Abilene!!! I forgot my USB camera cord at home (I'm so sad about that!), so here are some of my cell phone Thanksgiving Highlights.
Here are some baked goods mom made. Mmmm, food.

Shelly and I explained to Trey that selfies are out and butt selfies are in. He was trying to take one, it's harder than it looks. If you ever catch me posting a photo like this, please feel free to slap me and then call my momma.

Speaking of selfless…


My uncle JR drove from Victoria to spend Thanksgiving with us. He is my Mom's oldest brother. I think they could pass as twins.

The Anderson's, typically eat Thanksgiving meal around lunch time. This year, Trey's mom had lunch ready around 11:30 am and my mom had lunch ready around 3:30 pm. After eating and visiting with everyone, I wanted to go to Target to get an iPad mini for DA Video & Photo Services (and for play). So, I dragged some family members along. I stood in line with my niece Angelica for over an hour and a half, while my mom and aunt went shopping at the mall. My toes almost froze while I was waiting, but I walked away with my tablet. I think my boss is the best for getting me one! :)

This was the line that I stood in at Target (my niece Angelica was also with me)…there was roughly (I'm totally guessing here…) 100 people ahead of me. When I went inside, a few people were sprinting. I ran quickly to the Apple products line. I was about the 15th person in that line.

Meanwhile, Trey went to Sears and this was the line he had to wait in. I told him, nobody cares about Sears! He could have waited until they opened and got what he wanted. It's kind of hard to see, but that's Brandon with a thumbs up.
 

Thanksgiving in Abilene 2011

We spent our Thanksgiving with Family in Abilene. Wednesday evening, we hit the road and faced bad traffic in Weatherford. We were hoping to have dinner with family, but the traffic held us up, so we just got food on the road. I want to say, we were on the road for three hours. I took this picture when our side of the road, cleared up, however you can see how bad the oncoming traffic is. That's what we had to deal with too.

Cheyenne was watching Tangled on my phone, Trey was listening to talk radio, so I entertained myself, by taking pictures of the car stereo. I should've conserved my camera battery because now it's dead and I forgot my extra pack and I have no charger. A photographers worst nightmare! I still managed to take a few photos on Thanksgiving. 

We are so blessed, we had two Thanksgiving meals. One meal from Trey's side of the family and another from my side. Here is my Mom busy in the kitchen. Frank and my Mom, recently bought this new house. They also announced they have set a date to get married. It'll be spring 2012. EXCITING! I know a photographer and videographer....Family Discount = free. 

Chey was my personal taste tester. I stirred. She tasted. We made a killer jello chocolate pie.  

It's a Kraft Recipe. Here it is, if you are interested in making it yourself. Super-Easy and kid friendly. And for the record my photo looks better than Kraft's. Boom!

Hilario and Bella were patiently waiting to eat. Notice the Cowboy Jersey. Represent!

 Did anyone brave the Black Friday crowds? I did! I didn't do the 10 pm/midnight shopping. Actually, I'm not a fan. What is that --- a new thing? It's like opening all your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, it just takes all the special out of Christmas Day. Do you know what I mean? Maybe it's a good thing, I don't know. All the die-hards were in bed by the time I got going, so maybe it was a good thing. Actually, the crowds were reasonable. Really.

Trey's mom and I started our morning with H-E-B coffee and La Popular breakfast burritos. Our first stop was Shoe Carnival and later we hit up the following stores: TJ Maxx, Old Navy, and Wal-Mart.
Notice how Mom and Nanny are matching....They said they didn't plan it....sure. Shopping Twins!
 
Around lunch time, I met up with the Trey and the rest of the guys. We ended up going to Game Stop, an instrument store and several pawn shops. The guys found a great deal on an electric guitar. I'm glad they found a deal, but for the most part, I think Pawn Shops are a rip off. Check out this old Apple iBook for $250. C'mon now, this is worth maybe $50 bucks. I would know, I have the same computer at home.

Cheyenne's first Black Friday. Today, all she kept saying was, "I want that. I want that." So, I can basically get her any toy and she'll be happy. In this photo she was holding a DS Nintendo Dora the Explorer game. While she was with me I did some of her Christmas shopping. Nana distracted her, while Trey and I bought her presents and took them to the car. We're so sneaky.
 
Okay, it's time to hit the bed. I've been awake since 5 am. I've been on my feet. I even went for a 6 mile run this afternoon. Oh, and afterwards -- Chey joined me for a cool down. She ran and walked about 0.75 miles. I think someone is almost ready for a 1 mile fun run!!!! Speaking of running  --- Thanksgiving morning, I met up Sherri and a few Abilene Runners Club folks. We had our own little Turkey Trot.

Here is the most recent photo I have of Sherri. This was at Palo Duro 50K.

I ran 8 miles. For the first 3 miles Sherri forgot I was pregnant and we were running a 9 min. pace. I wasn't dying, but I wasn't having the time of my running life either. Sherri and her friend did most of the talking for the first few minutes, they probably thought wow, Dom is a great listener. Haha! Later, Sherri told me she felt bad for pushing the pace, because she remembered I was expecting. I was fine. The remaining miles were at a more relaxed/easy pace.

Black Friday with Experienced Shoppers

This morning my alarm went off at 4 am and by 4:30 Lacy and her mom came by the house and pick me up, for some black Friday shopping. It wasn't too hard getting out of bed that early. I had my coffee ready to go, so that gave me lots of motivation to get out of bed.

Lacy and her mom did most of the shopping. I purchased a few items, but nothing to brag about. It was nice going with experienced black Friday shoppers. Last night, they went to Wal-Mart and scoped it out---making sure they knew where everything was located. I'm telling you, they had their stuff together. Before we hit up Wal-Mart we talked about our game plan. I was in charge of the basket. Considering the crowds and the hype, all the shoppers, I came across were extremely polite. Once we finished shopping, sometime around 11 am I meet up with Trey and Cheyenne back at Lacy's house and from there we went back home and I napped with Cheyenne on the sofa, while Adam and Trey went for a bike ride.

After my nap, I found time to pull out some of the Christmas decorations. Now, I need to put up the tree. I hope Cheyenne doesn't pick at it.

For the random photo of the day, here is my clean fridge. I finally made time to clean it out. It looks so nice and organized.