Very Very Thankful!

Our Thanksgiving found us following our normally traditions once again this year...something I just love. I love that we are giving our children traditions that they will be able to look forward to and share with their children. This year we added some new things as well. We spent Thanksgiving watching the parade and packing up for "the vacation house" also known as the timeshare in Williamsburg. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house with my brother Matthew and Auntie Ann and then we all jumped in the car and headed to Williamsburg to share the long weekend together and relax. 

We got some Black Friday shopping in, enjoyed the outlets, played lots of card games, did arts and crafts, and visited the Yankee Candle factory store where we saw Santa! We had a great time!!

This Thanksgiving weekend led up to my oral exams for my Ph.D. This was the final part of my comprehensive exams which is the end of the degree and means you are done with course work. Once you complete the exams you are declared a Ph.D. candidate and are allowed to work on your dissertation. Everyone failed the exams in the spring and I struggled through the written so I was just a little stressed out :) The oral exams were very difficult and I had to send in more information but I ended up passing so I am very relieved to have this hurdle behind me!

The kids had a blast and I think we all enjoyed spending time together. We look forward to this weekend every year and I'm sure we will enjoy it for years to come!