Thankful for Thanksgiving! (and I need your input!)

Can I just tell you... Thanksgiving is my ultimate favorite holiday.

First, I love the concept. Being thankful in and of itself is a beautiful thing. Gratitude for the people you have in your life, the situation you're in, and the things you have - no matter who those people are, what you're dealing with, and what you do or don't have - is a good thing. I am the kind of person who is constantly wanting more and more of whatever. I'm married to a guy who is the picture of contentment. Sometimes that's annoying :) But mostly it's a great example, and I love how his "Glass half full"ness balances out my "Glass? What glass? You mean the one I just put in the dishwasher?"ness. See this story from last Christmas time as an example.
So, yeah, I like being thankful. It's good for the soul.

Second, it's no secret that I absolutely LOVE food. I like to buy it, I love to cook it, and I'm in love with eating it. So, yeah - an entire day where the focus is cooking, preparing, tasting and feasting on too much food is like gold medal material for me.

Third, I also love time with family. This year, we are going to North Carolina to spend time with Michael's family. His really fun Aunt Tonja (shout out Tonja!) and her super cute and fun family are hosting. Michael's brother Jarred and his wife, Crystal and their two little studs will be there. And Michael's PawPaw and Miss Jean are coming in from Arkansas! So, yeah, we are in for a GREAT time of catching up and making memories. Here are a few things that are sure to happen. I will get on the floor and have fun playing with little Marissa (M's one year old cousin) and Grey (M's one year old nephew). M will talk to Uncle Robby about the TV being mounted on the wall and about how we got a flatscreen this year and he hooked our computer up to it, foregoing our cable bill (Jackpot! You need to do this, trust me!) I will feel short and fat and outdated standing next to my gorgeous sister in law who I would hate if that were humanly possible, but she's also really sweet in addition to being a beauty goddess, so I can't. There may be some guitar hero/rock band involved where M and I will both stick to the most basic of levels. Brody (4 year old nephew) will make us all die laughing as he makes funny faces for the camera. M and I will smile quietly at each other when we see PawPaw and Miss Jean holding hands. I may or may not get up at an ungodly hour on Friday morning to go shopping with Caitlin....
Needless to say... it will be a fun filled, jam packed 24 hours or so!!! And on top of all of that, we will all stuff ourselves beyond measure!

So, yeah. Thankfulness, Food, Family (and football on in the background) I absolutely cannot find anything wrong with Thanksgiving, even if I am wearing my Debbie Downer hat. I'm tempted to say something negative about driving, but road trips are generally very fun for us!! We sing and talk and eat really bad fast food. Which makes me think... I guess we should eat breakfast Thursday morning before we hit the road in case not much is open.

I digress.
Anyway - I hope y'all all have a Happy Thanksgiving this year!!!!

If you want to help me narrow down what my contributions will be to our family Thanksgiving, please do. I don't want to overdo it! :)

Here are some of the things I'm thinking about making....
These honey yeast rolls... (classic, yummy, versatile)
And/or this braided cheese bread... (braided bread in and of itself is just jazzy impressive, no?)

And for dessert, maybe this pie I made recently?

I did say I would bring something for breakfast Friday morning.
For that, I'm considering strawberry scones... (I just got some strawberries that I need to use up)
and/or pumpkin doughnut muffins...(seasonal)
or cheddar dill scones.... (I have fresh, organic dill growing in my kitchen right now!)

Vote! Tomorrow, I'm off! So, I'll head to Wegmans in the morning (sure to be a MAD HOUSE) and then I can play in the kitchen all day! Yay!