A Johnson Family Thanksgiving

This year, Cody and I took a much needed trip to Harlingen to visit with his family for Thanksgiving. Cody hasn't been home since last Christmas, and I know he was ready to get back to the Rio Grande Valley. He left a few days before me and spent some time hunting on his dad's deer lease. I arrived in Harlingen on Wednesday evening and was so excited to see everyone again. Thanksgiving day brought lots of food, fellowship and football, and we were very grateful for the special time with Cody's family and of course, our sweet niece, Addison. She has grown so much and we loved every minute of playing with her! I know I say this in every post where family is involved, but we really do cherish the time that we get to spend with our families. We loved the visits before, but being out of state and a bit further away than we would like really makes the moments that we share even more special.

Here are a few pics from our Turkey day hang out!

Princess Addie playing with Uncle Cale. Isn't she a doll?

Uncle Cody getting some quality bonding time with the Princess

Story time before Thanksgiving lunch

Katie and Addison

The hubs and me celebrating our 6th Thanksgiving together. Where did the time go?

Mimi giving Addie lots of lovins

My niece is so stylish she even had a personalized, festive Thanksgiving burp cloth. I'm so proud!

Aunt Britt and the cutest niece EVER

The full Turkey Day ensemble

Watching football with Uncle Cale. Please do not disturb.

Daddy Jason and his little princess

The gorgeous table that Tami put together. She outdid herself!

We ended the Thanksgiving festivities with some required Black Friday shopping. I'm sure it's no surprise that I was willing to brave the craziness... and of course Tami, Katie and Addie were troopers, too. Addie was so good the entire time and just smiled and took in all of the scenery that the mall, Target and Marshall's had to offer. She's clearly a natural shopper, which definitely makes me even more proud. :) Good job, Mama! 

Teaching my niece the finer points of shopping

We clearly mean business when we shop.

We squeezed in some time for a picture with Santa!

While we had a girl day, the guys went duck hunting. I would say they did pretty well, and easily rivaled Duck Dynasty. :) Notice how incredibly photogenic our stud duck retrieving dog is? 

My favorite picture of the trip- Addie just chillin' before another day of shopping begins. (She did the pose on her own!)

On the way back to Las Cruces, we were able to stop in San Antonio and spend the night with my family. It made me anxious for Christmas to get here! Hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are getting into the holiday spirit. I'm counting down the days until I have enough free time to decorate the house and put up our Christmas tree! 

Cooking, Crafting & Chatting

Last weekend, I got together with the girls from our church life group to celebrate the fall season with a brunch and craft session. Because of my love for all things home decor, I thought it would be fun to get together and make a couple of cute crafts to decorate for the fall season. It was so much fun seeing all of the different creative things the girls came up with, and we all enjoyed the girl time and getting to visit and just hang out. Cody reaped the benefits of *some* of the cooking I did for the occassion. He was especially excited about the sausage pinwheels. I tried out a few great Pinterest recipes and they were winners! I love it when that happens. We drew inspiration from Pinterest for our crafts: alumninum can candle holders and festive fabric banners. The cute, rustic style of each craft brings just the right touch of cozy to the home-- perfect for the fall season. I've enjoyed glancing at our fabric banner as we relax in the evenings, too. Might I suggest that you take a day of crafting for yourself? You'll be amazed at how relaxing and rewarding it can be!

One of the craft stations

Some of the supplies

I love hostessing!

The spread- with everything from baked oatmeal and muffins to brunch enchiladas and orange julius, we certainly got our fill of yumminess.

I was super excited to try a pumpkin maple spice latte recipe that I found on Pinterest. It did not disappoint, and you better believe I had to do it up right with whipped cream and cinnamon at our little coffee bar!

My sweet friends Amanda and Blair, who are both expecting babies in the spring. Can't wait for those celebrations to begin!

The girls enjoying a brunch feast

Emily and her sweet princess Becky

Chillin' while Mom and the girls get artsy

Blair crafting her cute candle holder

Nicole and Yana hard at work

The finished product- one of the "can"-dle holders

Amanda, Becky and me

More cute candle holders

Nicole's "Fall" banner. Didn't it turn out cute?

I just love these. We joked that this one looked like it had a skirt or dress on. :)

Amanda's banner, which we worked on together. We're quite a team!

I'm very thankful that Cody and I have been able to plug into a group through our church that is full of young married couples. It's been so fun getting to know each person, and there are always things going on to keep us busy and entertained. We're looking forward to the Thanksgiving feast and Christmas party coming up next!