Thanksgiving Day has came & went.
& I wouldn't change a thing.
As I've mentioned, this year we held Thanksgiving at our home.
We had both sides of the family join us-
both sets of parents, the 3 siblings, Joseph, Caroline & myself.
party of 10.
Dad & Matt came the night before and brought me all the odds & ends from Niceville that I was missing. [One lesson: I learned I need to increase my amount of serving utensils...2 sets isn't going to get you by on Thanksgiving]
OH! & While we're on the night before Thanksgiving--
We stayed up until midnight & were on the phone & computer right at midnight ready to make one of our "Black Friday Door Buster" purchases that we were told would be available at 12:01 AM on the morning of Thanksgiving.
Customer Service just isn't what it used to be [feeling kind of old as I saw that, but it's the truth!]
I won't get into all the details, it was a long process- needless to say, we went to bed without making the purchase we were trying to make at midnight- not because the product was already sold out, but because none of the service reps knew what they were doing and when we asked to speak with a manager, after holding for 5+ minutes...we were simply hung up on.
Not.A.Happy.Pregs.
We got over it though! Just a loss of sleep, no big deal.
I started Thanksgiving Day extra early - it was strange...it was like Christmas morning when I was a kid:
You remember. That hardly able to sleep because you're so excited for the next morning, anxiously anticipating Santa's arrival & wondering if you'll hear him when he comes to your house.
Yeah, I guess I was just that excited for our 1st Thanksgiving hosting.
I worked from 6:00AM-7:30AM [on Thanksgiving? yeah- work hours.]
Then got myself ready & started in the kitchen with the appetizers.
Mom showed up shortly after I had started in the kitchen. We started going to down on everything that could be done early. It was a great system & I'm so thankful she was there to help me through the process. Timing is everything.
Absolutely crucial on Turkey Day.
Josephs's side of the family got in just a little while later and the appetizers were served.
Caroline was so excited to have her whole family there.
She wanted to show everyone everything.
[like they'd never seen it before]
There was So.Much.Food.
I had the menu made for probablyyyy 2 months prior to this. (See Menu Below). But it didn't seem like that much. I knew for sure that there would be left overs, but not nearly as much as there was.
It'll be Thanksgiving in our house for probably the next week...longer if the food stays good.
After we ate, there was a period of relaxing - some dosing off from the fullness of the feast.
& Then after a little relaxing, it was game time.
I don't recall the name of the game- but it was a blast.
Mary Catherine taught us a dice game -
a small wager gambling game.
So.Much.Fun.
Karlyn took home the loot :)
After some pictures, more laying around, and running around with Caroline it was time to call it a night.
This Thanksgiving was one for the books. & one I will never forget.
Not just because of the hard work that went into making this Thanksgiving, but for the people that were there and the memories that were made.
As much as I would have loved to just sit around and watch football-
I wouldn't trade the time in the kitchen that I had with Mom for anything.
I learned a lot. We had some good laughs & listened to some good country music [that part was predictable, wasn't it?]
I wouldn't trade the hours that went into the preparation of the menu, the decorating and the scheduling and planning.
I wouldn't trade how happy Caroline was to have everyone around her.
I'm so thankful for my family. Both sides.
I'm so thankful for my husband & all that he does for our growing family.
I'm so thankful for my beautiful and smart little girl who keeps us on our toes.
I'm so thankful for the precious baby that I can't wait to get to know.
I am so blessed to have so much in my life to be thankful for- the list could go on and on.
Who knows where everyone will be in their lives next year at Thanksgiving..
but if both sides will let us - I'm down to have another gathering at our house for Turkey Day!
:)
T H A N K S G I V I N G DAY M E N U
Appetizers:
Baked Brie
Spicy Roasted Chick Peas
Cashews
Beer Cheese
Bacon Roll Ups
Lunch/Dinner:
Turkey with Gravy
Glazed Ham
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Dressing
Cornbread Casserole
Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
Sweet Potato Casserole
Pineapple Casserole
Macaroni & Cheese
Deviled Eggs
Cranberry
Carrots
Crescent Rolls
Dessert:
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake
Caramel & Almond Cheesecake
Marbled Brownies
In the words of Jameis Winston:
"We Gonna Do It, We Gonna Do It Big."
I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!
Many blessings from our family to yours!
