Oyster Roast

This morning, Aunt Leah told Susanne to be ready by 9:00am because she would be stopping by to pick her up for a morning out. Leah had preplanned some fun activities for them to do together, but did a great job of keeping Susanne out of the loop. Scott was going to be watching Paxton so Susanne didn't have anything to worry about.

To Susanne's surprise, Leah first took her to get a pedicure. This was one of Susanne's guilty pleasures. There was no denying that she loved to be pampered. This was a perfect way to not only achieve that, but also bond with her big sister at the same time. They decided to get wild and pick off the wall colors for their toes. This made them smile.

Afterwards, Leah took Susanne shopping. Susanne rarely had time or the ability to get out of the house to do this. Susanne thoroughly enjoyed taking her time walking around and looking in different stores. The best part of the morning was that she also got to spend some leisurely time in the grocery store which she almost loved more than shopping. Food had always been a passion of hers so this was exciting for her. They finished up by going to lunch together. They had definitely worked up an appetite. Overall, it was a fabulous morning. Leah knew exactly what Susanne needed and intervened at such a perfect time.

Everyone wore their Team Paxton shirts today. It seemed like such an appropriate time to represent Team Paxon since it was a time of thanks. It was such a wonderful way to remember their roller coaster ride of a journey and how far they had come. The shirts looked great and the meaning behind them was incredible.

The holidays were all about traditions and Susanne's family had a lot of them. Growing up, the traditions that everyone looked forward to each year included a pinata, roasting marshmallows, and going to Sonic. As the years passed, they added an oyster roast to the list as a way to celebrate Poppy's birthday each year. It had been a few years since they had done a pinata since they weren't kids anymore. This year they finally felt like Parker was old enough to enjoy it so they added it back into the mix. It was so heartwarming to see his face light up as he was showered with a variety of candy when he finally broke it open. He thought it was the coolest thing. Parker also got to jump into a heap of leaves that Poppy had raked up the day before. Everyone took turns diving into the pile, which brought back fond memories of their own childhood. Once it turned dark out, the oyster roast began. The spread for tonight's dinner was just as exciting as yesterday's Thanksgiving meal. Poppy loved oysters so he could not wait to dig in. After an awesome dinner, it was time for dessert. They started with s'mores. Most everyone had spent years perfecting the art of roasting marshmallows, but now it had evolved into making the perfect s'more. Wally won the competition this year with switching out regular chocolate with Reese's peanut butter cups. Luckily, Susanne got to partake in the s'mores. She just had to use the Ghiradelli 72% cacao dark chocolate because it didn't have any dairy or soy in it. It was actually quite delicious and a nice change from the old school approach. Susanne found out that Parker had never made s'mores before. Susanne decided to take this opportunity to show him how to do it. He caught on quickly and boy did he love them. Afterwards, everyone went inside so Poppy could open his gifts. He loved his NC State Snuggie and Harry Potter Blu-Ray DVD gift set. He was an avid Harry Potter fan so he could not wait to hang out on the couch with his new blanket and watch movies all day. He had already seen them all numerous times, but they never got old to him. They celebrated some more with....yes more food. It was tradition that Poppy always got a cherry pie as his birthday cake. It was his favorite dessert by far. Once again, the evening ended with full bellies. Let the holiday overeating begin!