This year, Carl's family came to our home for Thanksgiving and I can honestly say that it was a great experience! I was so worried that the turkeys would end up half-cooked and that no one would enjoy themselves. But all my fears were ill-founded and we all had a great time, with fully cooked food :) Here are some photos of the day:
The first turkey is in! Yes, I ended up making two of them...we like our left-overs! Can I just tell you that I hate cleaning out all the guts?! Nasty, nasty, nasty! I now know what they meant when they said I would not really want to eat all that much after cooking it all day! ha ha
Alex volunteered to peel potatoes. I was very glad for ALL my boys help! Carl was running about like mad, even waking up before me to put the green bean casserole into the slow cooker. I love my husband!
Jake wanted in on the action as well. He peeled some after he had washed off all the sweet potatoes for us.
Here is one half of our post dinner spread. I wanted to get some photos of it all before it was consumed, but you know how it goes...rushing to get it all on the table and once that happens it doesn't stay there for long! The corn pudding is the item closest. It did NOT want to cook! Took twice as long as it should have, and then no one wanted to try it except Jacki and I! And no, that is not wine in the background, but sparkling juice. :)
Here is the rest of it. All in all we had turkey, ham, stuffing, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, impossible coconut pie, relish tray, vegetable tray, rolls, gravy, corn pudding, and I think that is it...there was so much, and believe me, I was not the one who made it all! My fantastic husband, Mandy, Lauren and Jacki all brought something to the table and I was very grateful!
Here is Gramps and Lauren
We had to set up the tables in the livingroom to have room. Wish I would have got a photo of them before we ate. Mandy and Jacob set them really nicely!
Mandy, Carl and Jacki. Dessert time, hooray!
Moen and Jake. (Think you squeezed a little to hard Moen!)
What's up Mandy?!
I wish that more of the pictures would have turned out...we were having some issues with the camera.
Trey trying out our new Wii. This was our main source of entertainment. We also had the game on for a bit and also played Apples To Apples, both the party edition and the junior version. :)
All in all, it was a great day and I think that everyone had a great time. We were glad that we could have the pleasure and experience of hosting Thanksgiving at our home. Next year Carl, I and the boys plan on going to the parade, so it's Mandy's turn!!
