Thanksgiving in Texas and "Southwest Asia"

It's official. Aj and I just spent what should be our last Thanksgiving without one another. Woot woot!! I was able to travel to Dallas and spend a few days with Aj's side of the family and Aj, well, he got to spend Thanksgiving on a 24 hour shift in the sand. Thanksgiving is Aj's favorite holiday. Football, food, and family all together in one giant celebration, it's like Heaven on Earth for him once a year. So it was pretty hard to not have him here. But there were still many wonderful things that came out of the weekend.

Aj sporting his shades in Southwest Asia.

First off, the Army had set it up so the soldiers could call home more easily and for longer periods of time on Thanksgiving. This meant that while I was at Aj's Mimi's house for Thanksgiving, he was able to not only talk with me, but also his 3 brothers, his father, his cousins, and his grandparents. This was a real Thanksgiving treat for all of them and I know put a huge smile on his and their faces. He was also able to talk with me for a very long period of time, and that doesn't get to happen all that often, so I was thrilled.
Second, Aj did have to work 24 hours that day, but he also received the Thanksgiving Day package that I sent. I was so happy that it got to him and had been worried that he wouldn't get it in time. I assure you that it was packed full of goodies and he was able to get his snack on. He was also able to get a little bit of turkey from one of the military dining facilities, which was "ok" he said.
For me, it was a much needed get away. I had not been able to visit Texas since Aj left for a variety of reasons and was happy to get to see everyone again. I was also able to see a lot of family members who I'd heard a lot about but never actually met.
It was a special treat because I was able to not only see Aj's dad's side of the family but also Friday I met up with Aj's mother, his Nanny, and his Aunt Sabrina. I had only met his Aunt Sabrina one time in November of last year and his Nanny lives a couple hours away in Tyler so we don't get to see her as often either. We all sat around a table, drinking coffee and laughing for a few hours which was wonderful.

Nanny and I at Sabrina's.

Finally, it was the first time I had been around Aj's family without him there and I'll admit, I was slightly apprehensive but it was a great time. I was treated like one of the family with or without him there. I was able to see "my" three brothers and talk with them, chat with Mimi and Grandpa while watching the football game (and yes, I even yelled and screamed at the tv plenty that day), get giant hugs from Becca (momma Kelly) and Ben, and laugh a good while with Nanny and Sabrina. (Extra special treat when Nanny looked at me and told me I looked good but if I lost any more weight I would be too skinny.. There's a first for everything!!) My major pitfall though was a complete lack of picture taking. Becca was sweet enough to send to me the pictures she took while we were at Sabrina's house, and I am in the process of scrounging up some more pictures from the weekend from others, but I failed miserably at taking even a single picture. So here is hoping that there are more to come.

Aunt Sabrina, myself, Nanny and Ma Becca.

And just to make sure I include everyone, Blitz had a fabulous time as well. He played football with everyone (yes, he really does play football), was given the bones from the turkey, played with his doggie cousins at Sabrina's and went on an extra long car ride. He does get rather confused whenever we go to Mimi's for the first while because he isn't allowed inside, and it was his first really cold night outdoors. He was covered in blankets for a while and looked rather ridiculous, but once again, I neglected to take what would have been some priceless pictures. 
Tomorrow is December 1st everyone. Seriously. December. How fetching exciting is that? Aj will be home for RR 6 weeks from Saturday. That just means that I only have 6 Saturdays left to practice my 2011 Madden. I can't wait. I truly can't wait. We are so close.
We love you all so much. I can't say how much your support means to us. Deployments suck worse than fat camp but it makes it so much easier knowing we have friends and family there to sneak us a piece of cake every once in a while.