It was a last minute decision to head North; we really didn't want to do another road trip in my old car, but we worried that if we didn't get up to Edmonton this weekend, we wouldn't have another chance to until after Christmas. We also hadn't seen my dad since June, before he left for his annual trip to Europe, so a we were due for a visit!
Saturday, was spent hanging out at my dad's, grocery shopping for turkey dinner for Sunday, eating pizza and playing tile Rummy. Such a fun game!
Sunday, Jim was on turkey and stuffing duty. We started cooking our own turkey a few years ago, following the direction of his dad's. It's actually much easier to cook a turkey than one would think, and our method never fails to leave us with a deliciously moist bird! The stuffing is also a "family recipe" and my favourite part of the whole meal.
While Jim was busy in the kitchen, I snuck off to get in a quick visit with my good friend Lauren and her new baby girl. It was so great to catch up and get in some baby snuggles.
I got back to my dad's just in time to help with the final preparations for dinner before we all dug in. My dad's girlfriend, my uncle, and my brother also joined us for dinner! (FYI, my dad's house has got to be the hardest house to take photographs in - it's dark and the cherry hardwood floors give off crazy colours, hence the lack of photos this weekend).
Monday, the three of us visited my Grandpa and GG. They hadn't seen Sully in several months, so it's always fun to see how much he's changed. We ended up visiting for almost four hours…eating up all of GG's yummy homemade snacks and her amazing pumpkin pie, before taking Maggie out for a walk (Sully was in doggie heaven!).
After that, we popped over to my mom's place for a quick visit (she had been out at my Grandma's farm for the weekend), before heading back to my dad's place.
Tuesday, we took our time packing up, before heading back to Calgary, but not before I made sure to get some photos outside since it was another beautiful fall day out! We stopped for gas and a quick leg stretch in Red Deer at The Donut Mill. Every single time we drive through Red Deer, we always say that next time we will stop at The Donut Mill, yet we never do. They have some AMAZING donut flavours, like pumpkin pie, oreo cream, rolo, and the best Boston cream I've ever had, plus the classics. I was severely disappointed in the sprinkle donut though, which is my all time favourite donut. They also serve soups and sandwiches and some other warm food options. The coffee was good, and I'd definitely stop in for donuts again!
We rolled into our driveway around 8:30 p.m., got Sully into bed, then watched two episodes of The Walking Dead before calling it a night!
I'm having serious turkey dinner withdrawals right now and feel like I ate my weight in food this weekend! I guess the one benefit of not cooking Thanksgiving dinner in your own home is the lack of leftovers (although I would love me a turkey and stuffing sandwich right about now!).
Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian family and friends! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend however you may have spent it.
