So Thankful................

Hey Blogland !

Hope you had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  We traveled to visit my side of the family for our annual gathering.  It was good to see and spend time with family but it was also a very challenging week. We (me, my husband, my sister and brother-in-love) are dealing with managing my parents health issues and having to make lots of  major decisions regarding their care. It was quite and emotion filled holiday.

We kept up the tradition of our annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was quite chilly & I am quite out of shape, but I still pushed it out  & trudged my way through ! LOL

Here are some pics from that morning .....

Love these little ones !

Me & my nieces

My beautiful sister & her girls !

My handsome nephew

The First Family - we call them Barack & Michelle, LOL !

My love carrying the chairs for he & my Mama !

My husband had foot surgery 2 weeks before Thanksgiving so I am doing all of the driving for about 8 weeks. We have very different driving styles, so this is a challenge for the BOTH of us, LOL !  He came out  to cheer us on with my mom who is making huge strides in her stroke recovery. She did not want to miss watching her grandkids run this race, so we made it happen.

So happy my Mama made it out

The youngest two in the whole crew ran the fastest. Gabbie who is 6 ran the 1 Mile Fun Run with ease & KJ who will be 8 in a few days, smoked us ALL in the 5K ! LOL

The Champs !

This was hands down one of the worst 5K's I have EVER run.  I am ridiculously out of shape, I probably went to the track a total of 5 times in the last few months to get ready for this race, but as I have previously blogged about, I have been dealing with a lot of issues causing me stress & regretably have not used exercise to help me manage it as I should have. My nieces & nephews would not let me sit this one out & I did not want to break tradition, so I pushed it out on HEART & my body paid me back for the next 5 days or so LMAO !

Thankful to cross the finish line ! 

We had our dinner, everything was great.  I made a Caramel Cake, that really came out good. I found a solid recipe on Pinterest that used a Bundt Cake Pan & it was very good. I did not overdo it on the leftovers that day, as my memory of that horrible race earlier in the day was fresh on my mind. LOL

The kids provided some after dinner entertainment, performing a little Skit/Play that they put together that day. Let me tell you we have some animated, entertaining kids in our family ! When they know they will have a captive audience, they are bound and determined to provide some entertainment.

It would take me forever to explain........LOL

Alexandra giving Savannah some last minute direction. LOL

It is hilarious to watch these kids interact with each other, see how their personalities and the family dynamics play out. I can't wait to see their growth and development in the future.  We are blessed with some very bright, talented and confident children in our family & I pray for their continued blessings.

I am so THANKFUL for family, health, provision, friends, and His continued blessings over my life DESPITE some of the recent challenges.


I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday


How was your holiday ?

Do you have any special holiday traditions ?

Did you make anything special



Beautifully Complex

So Very Thankful

Another epic holiday has passed. We had a wonderful time, safe travel to and from and wonderful times with the people who mean the most. Family is such a blessing. I had some conversations with my cousins over the holiday and just did some personal reflecting in general. Life, love and family should never be taken for granted. There are so many people that don't have these things in their life, so truly it should be treasured.


We took off a day earlier so I got to spend all day Wednesday in the kitchen cooking and prepping for the Holiday with my Mom which is a complete blessing after her health challenges from earlier this year. I got to hang out with my cousin from California, which was an unexpected treat also. My parents got a new dog, which they were reluctant to tell me about since they know I am really afraid of them. LOL They were jokingly calling her my new little sister. LOL I will admit that she is a very gentle little dog and after about 48 hours of anxiety, I was fine. I am still not that comfy holding or touching her, but everyone seems to love her.  My nieces and nephews are fascinated with her and it is fun to watch them bonding with the dog.  I like the fact that she seems to helping my mom with a routine and something for her to focus on since she is retired now.


We got up early Thanksgiving morning for our annual family tradition of running the Turkey Trot. I did the 1 Mile Fun Run this year because my ankle would not let me be great. LOL My 5 yr old nephew, smoked me like nobody's business. He is quite the little athlete.  My 11 yr old niece shut everybody down in the 5K, we were very proud of her. She has been playing basketball this year and her stamina was through the roof ! She did a great job.

Early morning stretching for the race !

Heading downtown for the Turkey Trot

My parents even brought their new dog  to watch LOL 

Go girls !

My BIL & Niece after she made us all proud 

Me & my little track star niece

My cousin reppin' the OKC Thunder LOL 

Later that day, my Aunt & Uncle hosted in their home as always & we had a great time, eating, watching football, doing Karaoke & of course the annual Taboo Challenge of the men vs. the women. We spanked them of course ! LOL Even my dad got in on the Karaoke & had us rolling singing " Mustang Sally " LOL ! And I don't know why my nieces & nephews were shocked that I know the words to "Hot Cheeto's & Taki's" ???? I love that video on You.Tube. Those little kids are the cutest and can rap too.

Me & my cousin from Cali ! 

The famous "Kiddie Table X 2  " LOL  !

My my my  they are growing like weeds !

Hot Cheetos & Taki's !!!! LOL 

The boys wanted to get in on it too. 

My sister & BIL singing a duet !

Daddy had to get him some. 

My cousins doing Bonnie & Clyde by Bey & Jay Z !

My two favorite guys :) 

On Friday, the day after we did absolutely no shopping. I am not into the Black Friday Madness. We took the kids to an indoor Trampoline Park which was really fun for them & cool to watch. I was sore from the run, so I could not indulge but it looked like a blast. The kids had an impromptu Pizza Party that night & the grown cousins went out for dinner and drinks at Republic Gastropub which was a cool little spot.

Oh to be a kid on a trampoline again ! 

No more Turkey ! Let's have Pizza ! 

This little girl is a handful, best believe ! 

Love these little girls .......

Me and my love at dinner :)

Saturday morning. Me & Mr. Mixologist had a breakfast cook off challenge. We made two different versions of Shrimp n' grits for the family. They thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't have to tell you that he won the challenge, but everyone said that both were really good. I just realized while writing this blog, that I took no pictures of what we cooked. I guess I was too busy cooking.


Saturday afternoon, we went to a Cigar Lounge and watched football.  Mr. Mixologist  got my cousin from California to try a Cigar & she is hooked, LOL. She can't wait to go back to LA & find a local spot to hang out at.

Puffin it up ! 

When we finally got tired of all the Turkey we made our way to our favorite Mexican spot when at home, Ted's Cafe Esconditio. I really love their food.

My BIL & Sister

My sister & cousin 

I hated to have to get back to reality, but we did. It was a wonderful holiday. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by.  Not it's time to start shopping for the Christmas tree ! Dang.

How was your Thanksgiving ?  

Do you have any holiday traditions ?

Who traveled the furthest to celebrate ?


Thoughts ? Commnts ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex 

Family Fun

I had a nice holiday with the family. Our grandparents are no longer with us,  so our gathering consists of my parents, my sister and her family, all of our aunts, uncles, cousins and all of their children. There were about 35  of us gathered this year at my Aunt's house.

We had....Turkey...Ham...Fried Chicken...Chitlins....Greens...Dressing....Giblet Gravy....Mac & Cheese....Green Beans....Mashed Potatoes....Candied Yams....Broccoli, Cheese & Rice Casserole....Potato Salad....Cranberry Salad.....Cole Slaw...7 Layer Salad....Corn Bread....Rolls....Sweet Potato Pie....Banana Pudding.... and Caramel Cake... WHEW !  I only ate left overs once, but it was that damn Caramel Cake that really  did me in. It was at my mama's house, so it was calling me from the kitchen table every morning for the next 4 days! LOL

We had a great time, the ladies & the kids did Karaoke in the living room, while the guys got into the Football in the den. Later on we played Taboo. Karaoke turned into a dance contest.......which turned into a Soul Train Line. At one point my dad, who uses a cane, came into the living room to see what all the laughing was about  & ended up doing his thang for a minute ! LOL It was fun.

Getting ready to sing !

Little ones want to shine too !

The cousins 

Ol School shows how its done 

Dad in the Soul Train Line

Friday night my generation went out together. Me and my Beau headed down to Bricktown to hang out with them and have some cocktails & of course Cigars at Mickey Mantles #7 Lounge. It was a really cool vibe, appetizers were pretty good, drinks were on point. They had a pretty good band and the area is pretty much the entertainment hub of the city with lots of restaurants, bars & lounges. It was a good time ! 

Aficionados!

My sister & cousins 

Sis & BIL

Saturday we took my nieces & nephew along with all the little cousins to see the Muppet Movie. One of my cousins wives got sick, so it ended up being 3 adults & 11 kids, which was more than a notion. I know we broke some seatbelt laws getting them all to the theatre ! LOL  After that we took them to get hamburgers and ice cream at one of my favorite spots, Braums before dropping them off to all their parents. It was a little stressful keeping up with all those kids, but it's always worth it to get that family bonding time in. 

Shortest to Tallest 

Like a Daycare Fieldtrip LOL

I managed to catch the a slight cold from the weather change, or possibly a relative so I have been slow motion this week but I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as I did.


Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex 

Trotting Like a Turkey

We got up early Thanksgiving morning to head downtown for the annual Turkey Trot. This was our 9th year to participate. We have been doing this as a family since 2002. The number grows each year & this year we had 10  participating. Half did the 5K (3.1miles) and the other half did the 1 Mile Fun Run.

My nieces & nephew are ready to go !

We ate bananas for breakfast. I was trying to save my appetite for later in the day. This turned out not to be such a great idea. We found this out later in the morning after the race.

Addicted to the Smartphone

I was posting a status on Facebook, or Tweeting or Texting somebody, just before we hit the ground running.

The gangs all here ! 

Fire Academy recruits

The recruits from the Fire Dept Academy ran the 5K with us. They were bringing up the rear & since I ended up straggling in this race, I really appreciated that Cadence they were chanting. It helped me to make it through ! LOL

Sea of Turkey Trotters !

We had perfect running weather. I ended up coming out of some of my layers. If I had properly trained for this race, it could have been great, but I was struggling. I can't deny it.

Family Finish ! 

This was probably my worst 5K ever ! And I have run a lot of them. Ugh! My niece hurt her ankle and I had to walk with her for a large portion towards the end, but I can't lie, I was GLAD to be walking ! LOL

He left his parents in the dust ! 

We finished the 5K just in time to watch the rest of the family do the 1 Mile Fun Run. The hilarious part was watching my 4 year old nephew (he will be 5 in a week) suddenly appear sprinting to the finish line without his parents or Mr. Mixologist who all started out the race WITH him ! LOL

Just before running out of his shoe ! LOL 

We were so excited to see him out front & by himself, we started cheering & calling his name, he heard us,  got excited & really dug in & then lost one of his shoes just before he reached the finish line. He ran back & picked it up and ran across the finish line holding it in his hand. We were laid out laughing at this point!  LOL

Me and my Beau :)

My sister, BIL, & Beau came trotting in WELL AFTER my 4 year old nephew. We all sat around & relaxed before heading to the cars. Not long after that my BIL became light headed  & was short of breath. To the point that he had to lay on the sidewalk. I saw some panic in his face & my sisters. By this time they were breaking down everything from the race, but there was still  an ambulance there about 200 yards away. You should have seen me sprint to those Paramedics !



They rushed right over and gave him some oxygen, asked him some questions, took his vitals & he was feeling better in no time ! (Praise God) This was his first year to actually participate instead of being a spectator.  It turns out, if you are 6'4" , 250 lbs, haven't done any significant cardio in a while and only eat 2 bananas before coming downtown to run a mile, that is probably not a good idea. LOL   We were all so scared for a moment & I remember thinking " Lord please don't let my BIL have a heart attack out here." I am the coordinator of this event & try to get as many family members to participate & I was feeling real stressed in those few moments.

Now I don't know how your family is, but once we got into the cars & headed to our respective homes, word was spreading through calls & text that my BIL had to have help from the Paramedics. By the time we got to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving Dinner that afternoon, my cousins were.going.in.on.him ! LMAO. I mean they cut him no slack. They were laughing & clowning him big time ! I was just glad we were able to laugh about it.  I already know it's going to be extra hard recruiting for next year !


Do you have any family traditions ?

Did you do anything different for the holiday ?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex