Thanksgiving Recap/Weekend/Day to Remember

Happy Monday loves.

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend and that you ate just as much food {if not more} than I did! ;) I feel like this post is going to be a bit lengthy so I won't be offended if you don't stick around long enough to get to the bottom. {I lie...cause I always save the best for last.}

Seriously! 

Let's begin shall we?

Thanksgiving-

We had our entire family over for Thanksgiving this year, which was the first time since I can remember. There were 14 of us total....well 15 if you count Toby. Little man got some turkey and had his own baby turkey leg. It was a huge success and we all had so much fun, and surprisingly enough, I can't wait to get together with everyone again. 

Here are some pics from my sister's iphone-

I was not one of the many crazies to head out on Black Friday this year. I did it last year and that cured it for me...and Olivia....and Jake. I knew lots of people that started their shopping Thanksgiving night. I don't know about y'all but it seems to me like Thanksgiving is starting to lose it's meaning. It used to be a day spent relaxing with family and friends and now it's turning into another shopping day....isn't that what Friday is for?! That's my take on it anyway. Cyber Monday is my new bff. Speaking of, there are some sales calling my name today! 

Weekend-

Saturday I went to the Tech/UVA game in Charlottesville. Huge Rivalry! In Virginia, regardless of whatever college you decide to go to, you are brought up choosing one of those 2 schools to root for. I chose VT a long time ago :) History lesson over. Back to Saturday. It was my first time tailgating ever. Hard to believe that I made it 25 years without doing it. Anyway, we got to the stadium at 6...as in 6am....still dark out. I refused to come out of the truck until at least 9am...7am doesn't even come twice a day for me, ok? Needless to say, tailgating was tons of fun....not sure I wanna do it again for a while though. I had a little too much fun ;) If you didn't tune into the game, Tech not only beat UVA, we shut them out! As in 38-0. Whoop whoop! Next week we're heading to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game against Clemson. Go Hokies!!

 new friends :)

Logan Thomas aka QB/man of the game

#7 Marcus Davis 

Huge game for him...and we got to tailgate with his momma. Girlfriend is a riot!

Day to Remember-

Today is special for 2 reasons. 

one. 

Grandpapa would be 70 today. Instead of being here, he's celebrating his birthday with Grandmama in Heaven. I love you so much Grandpapa! 

two.

Toby is 9 months today. I can't believe how fast the little stinker is growing! 

1st night home- 2 months old

8 months old- still cute as ever! :)

Phew! Told ya it was a read! 

How were y'alls weekends? Did you brave the crowds and end up going out on Black Friday? 

xoxo.

An Honest Man

As some of you may have noticed, I've been mia for most of the week. That is because over the weekend, my grandfather passed away. We knew it was coming eventually, but not like this, not this soon. I'm sitting here barely able to put complete sentences together because I am just so exhausted in every sense of the word.

I would like to dedicate this post to him because he was such an amazing man (and because he read my blog.) There are so many memories that we have with him and I would like to share a few with all of you.

• He made the BEST burgers EVER. Hands down. 
• After Grandmama was gone, he continued the birthday outing traditions which usually included go-karts :)
• He always pressured guys that I brought over to eat until they couldn't move. I guess that was his way of testing their manliness...haha 
• Family Skype sessions
• I taught him how to do the cha cha slide- and he caught on pretty quick
• He was a man of faith, and he lived his life as an example. He always put others first, and he never met a stranger. 

What I didn't learn about him until this week was how much so many people looked up to him. Since he served as a firefighter for 25 years, he was given a formal Fireman's Funeral. I'd never been to one of these before and I do have to say that it's a really neat way to send him off. It was remarkable to see how close of a family these firemen had become. For three days he had the Honor Guard standing at his side to "protect" him. On the way to the gravesite, there were so many firetrucks and police officers lined up on sides of the road, highways, and overpasses saluting as he drove past. It was really cool to see how one person's life could affect so many. There was a huge American flag hanging from the same ladder truck that he once drove. At the very end, he was given a "last call." All the firemen had their radios turned up and they called his name one last time, which was heard throughout all of the stations. At that moment, I was taken back to Grandpapa as a young firefighter. That's how he will be remembered by many. A man who worked hard, cared so much for others, and saved lives. As hard as these past several days have been, our family finds comfort in knowing that we will one day see him again. And in the meantime, he gets to make up for lost time with Grandmama. :)

These are some of my favorite pictures that we found this week while going through old albums

 Grandpapa & Grandmama

Grandpapa & Grandmama

This is my absolute favorite picture of him. It looks straight out of a movie.

He's the one in the middle without a helmet.

Me & Grandpapa

Dad, Grandpapa, & Mom

Christmas 2009

Me & my favorite fireman <3

Grandpapa and his girls :)

We miss you Grandpapa. 

Til' next time :)