Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Turkey Day

THANKSGIVING 2016! :) My big kids had fun playing with the food after I did most of the prep and cooking. It was actually relaxing to have them upstairs or otherwise occupied while I was enjoying the calm and quiet of the kitchen while I mixed and mashed and created.
Here they are, playing with the giblets from the turkey. Nathan and Chloe were extremely scientific about the whole exploration and very curious; Jillian, however, was near retching and extremely grossed out by the whole prospect and wouldn't have anything to do with it.


Nathan also carved the turkey for me once it was cooked but was grouchy about trying to following the suggested protocol and ended up just whacking away at it. :) The turkey turned out really good - and so did the rest of dinner.
We had green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, stuffing both from in the bird and cooked separately, and both pumpkin and apple pie.
This is our traditional feast -- we have ham for Christmas. :) I was fairly impressed with myself, being able to handle the prep and cooking by myself. On the other hand, I did have a little help and I was only cooking for the 5 of us. Maybe next year I'll be ready to upgrade to a larger crowd. :)
When it came time to eat, we were going to prepare plates for our neighbors, Butch and Char, but they said they'd already eaten and were appreciative, but wanted us to keep our food. We also boxed up leftovers for Lowell and had plenty for ourselves.

 We spent time talking about what we were thankful for and just relaxing. The day was very laid back and informal - not traditional or what I could consider a "big deal" which was both a blessing and somewhat of a disappointment. I guess it would be best described as a non-event. Sometimes I miss the days of the huge family gatherings that were part of my childhood and wonder if my children are missing out because their experiences don't mirror my own. On the other hand, the day was full of smiles, was free of stress and there were no blowouts or fights. Peace... That was nice.
So much to be thankful for and so very blessed. #Grateful

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