Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated this special day with 28 of our closest friends and family and missed those who were not able to join us! Everybody brought a dish to pass and a bottle of wine to share. We provided the turkey, stuffing, & gravy! I was excited as we served everything on both our china and my Grandmother's wedding china. We started prepping a couple of days before Thanksgiving by lying out the bread to let it dry out for the stuffing. The night before I prepared my first turkey with the help of MC!!! She taught me how to give the turkey a "bath" and to pinch all of it's "blackheads" out! GROSS!!!! We prepped the turkey the night before, made some appetizers, and set up the dining room for all of our guests. On Thanksgiving I was up bright and early starting the stuffing and putting our turkey in the new oven roaster! Instead of cooking our turkey in the oven this year we chose to cook it the way MC had cooked it when Casey was growing up! She had always used an oven roaster which virtually steams the chicken. It doesn't give the best presentation, but man that turkey was juicy! This is the only way I will cook turkey in the future!

As we were getting ready and our friends and family were arriving I started to think of everything I have to be thankful for in my life. I watched Casey running around our house completing each and every task I asked him to complete. He was hanging curtains, setting up tables, watching the boys, wiping down counters, running things upstairs and downstairs, changing diapers, and making cakes. He did all of this stopping here and there to ask me "what else can I do to help" all while giving me a kiss. He is an amazing husband and father and I'm so thankful for him. I am thankful for my beautiful children. I watched as Noah wandered the house and played. He is such a smart and funny little guy. He does things on a daily basis to make me laugh and I am so thankful that he is mine. Gabriel played quietly smiling up at us almost as if he knew Mommy and Daddy were busy running around. He is our little angel. He is the happiest and easiest baby. I am so thankful God blessed us with him even if he was a little unexpected! I am thankful for our parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and nieces! Each and every one of them play such a special part in our lives!

We hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours!

I combined our china and my grandma's wedding china! It was great and not one plate was chipped or broken!!!! Yeah!

The dining room all set-up...

Casey, Grandpa, and I

Casey and MC

Everybody helped with the stuffing! Even Gabe!

Grandpa and Noah watchin' some football!

Aunt Be and Uncle John John

Finally ready to eat!

My BIG helper!!!!

Noah and Grandpa the day after Thanksgiving... I told you he makes me laugh!!! He insisted on Grandpa wearing his "hat"... aka a placemat!

Gabriel gazing at his new best friend!