The Hap Hap Happiest...

You know Bing Crosby really hit it on the head, or was it Danny Kaye...or Michael Buble?  Anyway, there really is no place like home for the holidays.  Throughout my life I've often wondered what the experience of going back home for the holidays would be like - and if it would rival anything out of Christmas Vacation - and, wow, have I been missing out!  And all we've done thus far is experiencing being home for Thanksgiving.

Nicki and I were fortunate enough to spend a week back in Cincinnati over Thanksgiving.  The trip started off a bit rough as we drove to St. Louis and spent the night in a 'historic' Drury Inn.  It was our first experience with Jack in a hotel, and it just might be the last!

It was a week that reinforced how incredibly blessed we are with amazing family and friends.  A week that started with the annual Thanksgiving with Friends Cookoff and ended with a perfectly executed family Thanksgiving.  We were able to spend the week connecting with so many important people in our lives.

Nicki and I have settled in here in Northwest Arkansas better than we ever could have imagined.  The first nine months here have exceeded even the highest of expectations.  That said, there really is nothing like going home and seeing the people who mean so much to us.  Being able to have Nicki's family and my family enjoy one Thanksgiving celebration is about as good as it gets!

As you can tell from the pictures below, we had two fantastic celebrations and two opportunities to really enjoy the people in our lives.  We can't wait until next week when we get to do it all over again!  First is a trip to Cincinnati and then Christmas in Northeast Ohio!

Nicki prepares her baked bird for the cookoff...pay no attention to the fact that it looks like just maybe she prepared my bird for the cookoff too...

How many college degrees does it take to fry a bird?

Don't stand too close to the pot of 400 degree oil...

Your 2011 Thanksgiving With Friends Cookoff Winner (if you ask me)

Nicki's bird was prettier...

Add your own caption.

The feast was great, but the time with friends was even better.

My dad does the majority of the cooking on Thanksgiving - an impressive feat for a group of 13 people.

We are so lucky to have Jen and John and Nicki's parents join in on the Thanksgiving fun.

Not one of us is paying attention to the pot of burning oil.

Only thing that could make this better is if Ben had a Bengals jersey on.