A week before the big day we begin practicing with Alex. He could hardly wait for his cousin Shae to arrive so he could practice what he had learned. " Happy Turkey Day Shae!" he did not care about the oh 18 other people that had arrived at our house to spend Thanksgiving. All his concerns were focused around playing with Shae. So to each of you I hope you had a very Happy Turkey Day!
My preparation for the big day started early with a mass cleaning of my house. I made sure everything was clean early in the week and did my food shopping the week before to avoid the crowds. Nothing is worse then shopping the day before Thanksgiving with a huge grocery list.
Tuesday night I headed off to my neighbor's house for girls night out. It was so nice to enjoy a few minutes away with good friends, food and a chick flick. While I was gone Jason got started on making 15 lb of mashed taters, candied yams and scalloped taters. He said he wanted to go all out or nothing. Let's just say I went to bed after midnight and he stayed up until 4 working his magic. It's so nice to be married to a man that not only likes to cook but is fabulous at it.
Wednesday Jason took the day off to help me prep. He finished up a few dishes that morning and helped me with odds and ends around the house. My Mom arrived in the afternoon to help me cook. We made stuffing, green bean casserole and 5 pies. Alex had come down with a cold so Jason was nice enough to stay home with him while my Mom and I went out for a bite to eat. It's not often anymore that Mom and I get to go out by ourselves without time restraints. I loved it!
Thursday morning came too quickly for me. Alex was nice enough to go downstairs and wake my Mom. We had some breakfast and then got busy setting the tables, cooking the ham, turkey, gravy and warming up all of our sides. My sweet neighbor Brooke was nice enough to allow us to use her oven since she was out of town for the holidays. Jason went to work cooking some food here while Mom and I watched the food here. Jason decided this year to take a stab at briening our turkey. After it sat overnight it suggested we cook it for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. My oven did not like that..... major smoke which set our alarm off for the next 30 minutes. Luckily it was worth it.
Our family arrived around noon to enjoy appetizers. This year we had my Mom, Step-Dad, Aunt & Uncle Mott, my in-laws and my sisters family. There were 19 of us all together. Although we had a large group our new house is great for entertaining so I never felt crowded, in fact I just kept expecting more people to show up. It was nice to have everyone together. We feasted on appetizers and when I say feasted I am not joking. I asked my nieces to bring a few appetizers and my MIL a veggie plate. We ended up with that along with a few more things my MIL whipped up. All of it was tasty but I was careful to not fill up too quickly. While we snacked my family helped me with our activity for the day. Usually we stand and each tell what we are thankful for. Although this has been nice in the past it usually ends up being a fast and testimony meeting rather long and with me bawling at the end. I wanted a change. I asked my talented niece Areiann to draw a turkey and each of my family members to trace their hand and list 5 things they were extra thankful for this year. Mine came to be easy.. all things very strong in my mind this year due to my experiences or those around me. I listed 1-my beautiful new home 2-a strong marriage 3- amazing neighbors 4-my ability to have children 5- a stable job.
After a fabulous feast of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, rolls, yams, mashed taters and gravy, scalloped taters, cranberry sauce, and stuffing I was rather full. All the food was super tasty but everyone seemed to comment on the turkey. Everyone was in agreement that it was the moistest tastiest turkey they had ever had. The only compliant was that there wasn't more. My Mom had a smaller bird and since we had the ham we weren't too worried. We will no better next time.
We spent the afternoon chatting, sleeping, playing games, watching UP, searching the Black Friday ads and for some of us being sick. We made more trips to the medicine cabinets in one afternoon they I knew was possible. A few family members tested out all of our showers, Ryklyn being the most famous for that. Late afternoon we enjoyed the fabulous pies, so tasty. Around 9 we wrapped things up and sent our family on their way. I tried to settle down and get a few hours sleep before my alarm went off.
2 am comes rather quick especially when you are tired, pregnant and have come down with a cold. I wasn't about to let that stop my first Black Friday shopping experience. My friend Natalie, her Sister and Mom and were nice enough to let me tag along for their annual shopping event. It was rather eye opening but fun. We waited in the cold for over an hour to get into Kohls. I got some great deals but since family reads this I will have to save my big deal for another post. We made our way from Kohls to Target, Old Navy, and Home Depot. We then had a yummy breakfast at Einsteins and finished our day shopping at the mall. It was way fun! Thanks again girls for letting me take along. All in all it was a fabulous Thanksgiving. Here are just a few pictures from that day. I realized I never did get around to taking a picture of everyone. I was too busy eating I guess.
My two favorite boys
My BIL Mike and cute niece Hilary
Our turkey, if you notice this one happens to have utters. My silly Aunt Pat put her hand there. My sister pointed it out so before the blessing on our food I had her give Aunt Pat a hard time. She told everyone that she learned something new today, Turkeys have utters, thanks Aunt Pappy. I told her she is in charge of bringing turkey milk next year.
Appetizers
My Mom and Sisters working on dishes
My BIL Mike, niece Hilary and Nephew in law Clay just laying low
My SIL Alanna, Shae, and Alex coloring their turkey pages and making their thankful feathers.
Our turkey day spread
My MIL Judy carving the turkey
The cutest boy in the world
Trying to get a picture of cousin Shae and Alex. He didn't want to cooperate. This one was the best out of 6. Of course it's the one where he is looking at another camera. Little Turkey!
More of our tasty spread
My niece Jillian and her daughter Ryklyn, yes I'm a Great Aunt. She is usually a very happy baby but she wasn't feeling good that day.
Oh yeah.. PIE!
Why is everyone taking pictures of me eating pie?
An array of pies, razzleberry, pecan, chocolate pecan, chocolate cream, banana cream, coconut cream. All so tasty!
