Thanksgiving Day Smiles

Our friendly old scarecrow got a couple of new friends this year to help him welcome our family to our home for Thanksgiving. (Actually, I just used my Romney/Ryan sign left over from the election…. I decided the sign wouldn’t be a total waste if I redid it to make a Welcome sign.) 

I think everyone did feel welcome and loved as we gathered together. This is the first time all 24 of us have been together for 2 years since Justin was serving on a mission in Guatemala…. and it will be the last time for 2 years because Jalen will leave on his mission before next Thanksgiving.  We were really thankful to be all together. Our hearts were full of smiles.

The first order of the day was Erin and me getting one bird in the oven and Mindy getting another into the smoker.

Ellie was a big helper with the rolls and Cal went up to Grampy’s orchard to pick me some apples that I needed in recipes.

Upps… I guess I couldn’t use those apples….. bring me some without bites taken out of them boys.

I gave all the girls personalized aprons with their names on them. What a cute bunch of helpers. In this case too many cooks did not spoil the broth….

The many helping hands just got all the work done faster.

After smelling both turkeys cooking all day, we worked up big appetites….Munching on Ernie’s shrimp and veggies helped to tided us over.

We were excited when both birds were done and Ernie and Grampy got busy carving them up for us.

After saying a prayer of Thanksgiving and asking a blessing on the food….

We hit the buffet line and filled our plates with lots of delicious food.

Then we sat down to eat at one of the three tables that were set up in festive style.

The weather was very nice so the boys decided they wanted to eat outside. I thought I’d set a place for everyone…. I counted 22… and set 22 places…. upps… I was wrong. I forgot to count a place for John and me… and I was 2 places short.  I felt badly about that and was going to move a couple of kids over to the bar….. but Patrick and Erin said they didn’t mind a bit not eating at the table.

In fact, they said having their little ones cared for by those at the kid’s table  gave them a little mini-vacation. However, next year I will be sure I set enough places for everyone.

After dinner we let the food settle a bit and then we hit the dessert buffet. I made traditional pumpkin and pecan pies (the pecans were from our orchard). Ernie made apple pies. Each was delicious.  Yum Yum

Everyone pitched in to help with cleanup. The kids cleared the tables…. the adults filled the dishwasher and washed and dried the serving dishes…. and I put away the left overs. I really appreciated all of the help.  Smile… smile

I feel so blessed and so thankful that I could share this wonderful Holiday with all my children and grandchildren. We all have our individual struggles but we also have a lot to be thankful for. God has blessed us abundantly and we are very grateful. 

How did you spend your Thanksgiving Holiday? I hope it was a lovely day for you too….. and I hope my blog friends in other countries also take time to think of all the things they are thankful for. God is good to all of us.

Have a great week.  Hugs, Lura