Nov 19-25, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful holiday weekend!  Scott flew home from Western on Weds evening. His classes were cancelled on Weds, so he had the day to pack, do homework, clean his dorm room and drive up to Grand Rapids for his evening flight home. Tom picked him up at the airport after work. Both Tom and Allison had a long weekend off from work. I was scheduled to work during the week, but turns out they did not need me. Which gave me more time to shop and prepare food ahead of time for dinner on Thursday.
In the morning we enjoyed watching the Macy's Day Parade before I picked up Mom B to spend the day with us. After a light lunch, I had her help peel and cut up apples for a pie. And Scott made a delicious sweet potato casserole. We also invited our friend John over for dinner and Tom cooked a turkey on the rotisserie on the grill. It was delicious! As usual, we had too much delicious food-all the usual dishes including stuffing and loaded baked potato casserole. After dessert, Mom and I cleaned up and I had her fill out a few Christmas cards before heading back to her apartment. It was a busy but relaxing day. We were thankful to have the family together for the holiday weekend. Allison was also thankful to hear that her medical results came back fine for everything! No ulcers and her iron levels were good! And no more iron supplements. But to be on the safe side we always check iron levels on her food items and buy the highest amount we can!
On Friday we were up early but not for shopping. I scheduled our family Christmas photo at JCPenny(I forgot it was Black Friday and the shopping craze had begun at the mall). I just needed to schedule when Scott was home and the studio is of course at the mall. It was not as crazy as it could have been, but we did not hang around very long. After our morning session Allison and I braved the big sale at Bed and Bath Works for the Buy One Get One Free sale. Afterwards we headed over to the movie theater and lunch at Chick Fil A. Scott wanted to see 'Ralph Breaks the Internet' for his birthday, but Tom could not find any interest in that flick. So instead, Scott and Allison went to see 'Ralph' and we saw the 'Robin Hood' movie. I actually would have been happy seeing 'Ralph' but I did not want Tom to have to see a movie by himself. Tom really wanted to see "Robin Hood" with the actor from "The Kingsman". I think the kids still got the better deal. I was not expecting much from 'Robin Hood' remake and it did not give much in return! But it was fun to see a movie. I had planned on celebrating Scott's birthday with dinner and presents on Friday, but Tom wanted to cook a prime rib roast. So we postponed until Saturday. Instead we enjoyed a turkey/stuffing casserole AKA Seitz casserole with all the leftovers for dinner that night(and left over popcorn!).
On Saturday the kids were busy visiting with friends. In the morning, Allison's friend Jen and her boyfriend stopped by to play video games. In the afternoon, Scott and Allison headed to the mall to meet up with friends(it got a whole lot busier on Saturday!) Plus it was really raining all day Saturday, so Tom decided not to grill his roast. Instead, Scott requested chinese food for his birthday dinner and we topped it off with birthday pie(3 different kinds!). Scott is a pie guy like his Uncle Mark!  We went out to our new, favorite chinese restaurant in the pouring rain and while we were there the lights in the restaurant flicked on and off. A few minutes later we heard sirens and watched multiple fire trucks and ambulances drive by. Turns out there was an accident there at the intersection and a car knocked over an electric pole. Not a surprise since it was raining very hard and was very dark. I had to slam on the brakes to miss a few deer on the way home myself. After dinner Scott  opened birthday presents as well as his early St Nick's Day Christmas stocking. I had picked up a bunch of dorm friendly Christmas decorations for Scott to take back to school so I had him open it early. I even had a Western Christmas stocking made with his name embroidered on it through online Etsy. I found one Western stocking custom made from Kennebunkport, Maine! I think Western is really missing the boat on their marketing! So Scott spent the evening packing up his birthday gifts and St Nick day gifts including a new set of headphones for his computer and a ton more socks! Western sweatpants and a Mario winter hat. Plus Tom bought him a new phone when he was visiting in Grand Rapids. Scott has 2 more weeks of classes and then finals week before returning home for Christmas break. Scott also helped put up our artificial Christmas tree Saturday night since we will be traveling this year to Florida while Allison and I put away Thanksgiving decorations.
 On Sunday morning the whole family dropped Scott off at the airport after breakfast at Starbucks. He and his suitcases made it safely back to school and a snow storm that night! He had fun spending the afternoon unpacking and decorating his dorm room before settling down to an evening of studying. Meanwhile, Allison and I had fun shopping on Sunday as well as picking up Mom B's Christmas decorations from her storage unit and putting away her fall decorations.  And then in the evening we attended the "Straight No Chaser" concert with our friend John as part of my birthday present. As usual, we had a great time and were surprised to hear that the group replaced 4 of the original members. It is also hard to believe that they have been performing in Baltimore for the past 8 years. I think we attended at least 7 of those concerts!  The performances usually sell out and they only schedule one performance in our area. Can't wait until next year!