Post Thanksgiving in Indiana

Also referred to as Triptofin Coma: Part 2.

Yes, not satisfied with one Thanksgiving meal, we road-tripped it out to Indiana to enjoy a second turkey dinner with Steven, Liz, Alicia, Jessica, Renae, Greg, Carrie, and Grandma Wright. Now, when I say road trip, I mean Little Miss Sunshine style antics. We had an eight passenger van that held Jacque, Clyde, Mac, Ash, Courtney, Maddie, the two of us AND Violet! It's a miracle that we made it with very little poop or tears.





While in Indiana, Violet met her first "boyfriend." Steven's dog, Rocky, got a little fresh with her early on and it took awhile for the two of them to calm down and peaceably enjoy one another's company.



Maddie was, of course, the star of the show. Everyone wanted to hold her, but she fell asleep in Aunt Thais' arms (yeah!).






And what would Thanksgiving be without new family pictures?






(Are we Christmas card ready or what?)

Thanksgiving with the Carters!

There's something a little nerveracking about hosting your first Thanksgiving. Will the turkey be flavorful? Will all the food be hot at the right time? Will I completely mess up some absolutley necessary part of my in-laws traditions? Yes. Yes. And, thankfully, no, turned out to be the answers for our first Thanksgiving dinner at 4759 N. Paulina.

The Carter clan—Jacque, Clyde, Mac, Ash, Court and Maddie—all flew in on Tuesday afternoon. We were able to spend Wednesday picking up groceries, hanging out and baking desserts.

Here are a few general pics from Day 1. Warning: They're a little Maddie-centric.


Ready for her first flight!


A "purrfect" outfit for Madelena (as Heath now refers to her).


Violet was very excited to have so many people in the house to follow around.


Heath, Mac and Jacque took Violet out for her first snow!


Perfect mother-daughter pose.


Violet was really Clyde's biggest fan.

And now...a little aunt and uncle action:




Obviously, Thursday was dedicated to all things gluttonous, including our first-ever deep fried turkey. Yes, family and friends, Thais actually put her hand up a frozen turkey's rear end, and Heath actually handled boiling oil, without either of us getting sick or injured. Success! In all seriousness, we were quite proud of how the whole meal turned out. A big thanks goes to the most helpful in-laws ever!

Pics from dinner prep, dining, and dessert.


Cleaning out the turkey. That's right. Who's the priss now? :-)


Applying the dry rub for maximum flavor and then tying up the bird to actually fit in the deep fryer.


Peeling and sauteeting with Mom.


Renowned Chef Carter takes on his newest challenge: Hot oil delicacies.


Sizzle, Rudy. Sizzle! By the way...we named our turkey, "Rudy" after Rudy Giuliani. If you'd like to know why that Rudy, just shoot us an e-mail. :-)


The proud chef! Look at that golden skin.


Our holiday table setting.


A full plate. The menu included turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cherry salad, a sauteed apple salad, cosmopolitan cranberry sauce, and Nana's potato biscuits.


I don't know about you, but I'm full!


Celebrating Ash's birthday a little early with his favorite: crustless pumpkin pie.


Maddie loves her grandad.

Of course, there was more to our holiday weekend. We took a trip out to Indiana to meet up with some of Jacque's family. There are many pictures to share, but we'll have to post tomorrow since it's getting a little late. More soon...

Puppy Love

Our "little" Violet is growing fast. Lucky for us, the bigger she gets, the sweeter she is.

James: Back in the Windy City

After two and a half years away, James finally made his pilgrimmage back to Chicago for a visit. Always a fun guest to have, we enjoyed a mediterranean feast, house party at Hauna's, walking tour of the city, visit to the Art Institute, several games of Risk, and a Boggle beating. We capped off the weekend with a Sunday lunch—yummy!—in celebration of James' visit and in honor of Heath's nana, Primrose, who passed away 10 years ago.

We don't have pics from the entire weekend, but here are a few from our trek around downtown.

Retreating

Yes, this post is a little overdue, but we wanted to share pictures from our first ever ResCov church retreat. We were fortunate enough to head back out to the LaPeau lakehouse in Fremont, Michigan, for a day and a half of growing as friends and as a church community. The theme of the weekend was "Come to Table," and it was very moving to reflect on what we all bring to the table, how our childhood tables formed us, and who we are inviting to the table that is our church. And, when not reflecting, we Carters did what we do best: Games! Thais rocked out at Taboo, and Heath would have dominated Risk if a certain Ben Zabel had not broke international law. :-)