November Wrap-Up

November was a fun and  busy month and I know December is going to be even busier!  Before we get too far into December I wanted to highlight all of our November excitement.  Here's a little recap of what our little family's been up to:

On the 10th we celebrated my 29th birthday.  I was lucky this year because John did not have to work (first time in 4 years!).  Because of all his hard work with the Gold Cup they gave him that Wednesday off.  My parents came over to watch Megan so John and I could go have a birthday dinner alone at Victoria House.  For my birthday Megan gave me a frame with a picture of me and her and John gave me Adobe Photoshop.  I haven't used it much yet but look forward to using it to edit my photos.

The weekend after my birthday John had one more dinner planned for me.  We got a little dressed up, dropped Megan off with G&G Lewis and went downtown to Foga De Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse.  This is not a place we will be going to again anytime soon because it is sooo expensive but John had been there earlier this year and wanted me to experience it too.  When John made the reservations he told them of my dietary restrictions and when we got there someone actually came over to our table and told me exactly what I could and could not eat and even brought a few things specially for me like mashed potatoes and polenta.  We started out with a salad bar you would never believe followed by the main course, MEAT!  One by one, men carrying big pieces of meat on swords streamed to our table to shave off meat onto our plate.  John and I weren't too keen on the lamb but loved the Filet Mignon.  We even got a complimentary dessert, a fresh fruit cup!

The next day I planned for Megan, John and I to get a family photo taken at the Ritz in Eden Prairie.  It was  Megan's 8 month birthday so we got a few shots of her by herself as well.  We ended up ordering some Christmas cards with the family pose.  They turned out really cute!

The week of my birthday, we had some staff changes at work.  My AM Janice decided to leave YA and that Friday was her last day.  We're doing pretty good without her, just a little extra responsibilities for me.  I'm still not the busiest so hopefully things pick up, especially after the holidays.

John worked the entire next weekend.  On Sunday we awoke to a sheet of ice covering the entire ground.  Megan and I made it to church just fine, and actually weren't the last ones there!  I was not able to pull into the garage when we returned because our driveway slopes up and the car got no traction.  Later that afternoon the ice all melted so Megan and I went to go pick up our photo order ourselves.  Our photographer remembered Megan and had to say a special hi to "Little Red".  We also stopped at Kohls (I popped a banana in her fresh food feeder and plopped her in the cart and she was as happy as could be) and stopped at Rainbow for groceries.  I gave her an A+ that weekend.  Her and I had so much fun together.

Finally we come to Thanksgiving.   It was a four-day weekend for me; however, John had to stay late that Wednesday night to prep for Black Friday and early into work on Friday of course for the mad rush of customers.   He actually had to open every day that weekend.  Earlier that week I made myself a pumpkin pie and also made pumpkin pie ice cream with some fresh pumpkin from my mom for the rest of the family with homemade gingersnaps.  Thanksgiving itself was a whirlwind of excitement.  Church in the morning and eating the rest of the day.  Straight from church we headed to my parents' for the Gennrich side's Thanksgiving.  We had everyone there, sans one aunt, and it was nice for them all to see Megan, especially since it had probably been since the 4th of July that everyone had gotten together.  Megan napped when she could and didn't really like the Thanksgiving dinner I put together for her.  A lot of stimulation and she is mostly used to fruit at lunch time.  We stayed a couple hours more for a few games and, of course, pictures... Megan soon got cranky again and it was off to the Lewis' so she could have a nap in the car.  We had fun over there too (with another huge assortment of desserts) and Megan got to play with Alexa again.  Even though we stayed there longer than we should have, Megan did such a good job.  We put Megan's PJ's on before we left for home.  She fell asleep right after the car left the Lewis' driveway and she was so tired that she only opened her eyes once while John took off her coat and put her in her crib.  Oh, how we love our little Megan and are so thankful that she is our daughter.   

As I said before, John was up bright and early on Friday.  I stayed at home and got up early to look at ads online.  When John got home he decided to call in to a place in town to get new tires put on his Explorer.  Meanwhile, he stayed home with Megan so I could go Black Friday shopping a little on my own.  I ended up with just a couple Christmas presents and a new winter coat and scarf set for myself. 

Our last big event of the month was going to Red Lobster the Saturday after Thanksgiving for my mom's birthday.  We actually had my entire immediate family at a restaurant together.  I wonder when and if that will ever happen again!  Again, Megan did great.  We don't take her out to many restaurants but gobbled up her dinner while we waited for our food to arrive.

Well, I apologize for the lengthy post.  It almost seems that the busier we are the harder it is to get anything on the computer.  I hope everyone has a wonderful December.  Stay warm and drive safe!