Thanksgiving 2017

I was so on the ball and had all of these pictures loaded on Sunday night, but then I forgot to come back and actually write the post, so, we're going to make this real quick. 

My parents hosted 25 people for Thanksgiving this year.  It took ALL the seating to accommodate everyone. 

Dining room table

Outside table #1.  These are my Thanksgiving dishes. 

Outside table #2

Outside table #3

Drink station

Ginger picked a really convenient location for a nap. 

Family picture before anyone dribbled gravy on themselves.  I got Michael's tie at the party store.  It was a hit.

My uncle set up his own drink station.  Not just for him to drink, but he brought and did all of this. 

My brother's eel pie.  A traditional dish from the first Thanksgiving.  It's actually quite delicious. 

Appetizers- after the crowd got to them.  This is what was left. 

Two kinds of turkey. 

The first one was bacon wrapped.

Gravy that I could eat every day, it was that good. 

Pork roast

Bacon mashed potatoes

Two kinds of cranberries

My mom's jello that she makes every year.  Spencer calls it "Gramme's very special jello".

Rolls.  I'm acting like you guys have never seen Thanksgiving food before. 

My praline topped sweet potatoes. 

The crowd

Raquel and my mom

My mom and her cousin John's wife, Patsy.

Lois joined in 

John, who broke his arm two days before Thanksgiving (compound fracture) and had a six hour surgery that day before Thanksgiving. 

Mincemeat pie

The pecan baby pies I made

Pumpkin pie (are you guys taking notes?)

Caramel apple slab pie I made.

My friend Jaime posted a picture of herself and her boyfriend.  She was wearing the same dress in navy blue, so this was my response to her. 

We gave my uncle an early Christmas gift that he can use all month. 

It was two glasses with festive doggies all over. 

Taken to show all of the Boys State people that my dad was wearing his Boys State shirt on Thanksgiving.

Ginger helped with the dishes.

And right before bedtime I remembered to get a picture of their shirts. 

Gobble gobble!

A thankful home 2017, and pre-Thanksgiving

I took all of these pictures of the house on Sunday the 19th.  As soon as the photo session was done I took everything fall, turkey, and Thanksgiving down and packed it up so I could prepare for Christmas.  We weren't home for Thanksgiving anyway, so it didn't matter that we were no longer decorated for the holiday.  

I actually bought some new stuff this year so I feel like my Thanksgiving decor is finally up to par.  I've gone from a teeny tiny little box with a few turkeys to a pretty decent spread. 

So, let's get this tour started.  

The black shelves in the living room.

See the turkey on the bottom left?  We bought him at Target, got him home and then realized he was missing a foot.  I was going to return him, but then I went to a different Target and found a turkey foot sitting next to the display so I took it and glued it on to this turkey.  It's either a Thanksgiving miracle, or just a sign of really crappy quality.  You decide.

The entryway table

My friend Cathy gave me a gift card in April.  I kept it specifically so I could buy something Thanksgiving with it.  I feel like I already told this story though.  Anyway, I bought this turkey and he is spectacular. 

The dining room

The left server. 

The turkey runner on the table

The dish hutch

The cornucopia on the table.  It's new this year.  

Close-up of some of the dishes.

Elliott made an appearance mid photo-shoot and wanted me to take his picture with this string.

The right server.

I bought the frame this year and intentionally put a really old picture of the kids in there.  I just loved their turkey "eat pizza" shirts and that's how I want to remember them on Thanksgiving.

The family room mantel.

Family room entertainment center

Close-up of the bronze turkeys matching the bronze wall.  The big one is new, the little one is not. 

The window behind the kitchen table

Behind the kitchen sink

The pantry door

Kitchen cabinets

Kitchen table

Bearded bird by the sink.  I bought a winter bird last year to put here for Christmas (our wi-fi router) is in that box) and we all liked him so much we left him out all year.  Then we got a jack-o-lantern bird for Halloween and this somewhat pilgrim-esque bird for Thanksgiving. I'll have to see if I can find spring and summer birds next year. 

On Monday the 20th Spencer and I went to the Mayo Clinic for his last patch testing appointment.  Results: he has no contact allergies.  That's great and also puzzling.  And it leaves us confused as to what to do now. 

On Tuesday the 21st I made pies for Thanksgiving.  I made some roll up cookies with the leftover pie crust, because that's what my mom has always done with her leftover pie crust and I'm her daughter. This will be important when we get to Wednesday in 5 seconds, so remember this picture. 

Elliott wore the pumpkin hooded sweater to school on Wednesday the 22nd.  It's a Gymboree 5T that my kids have been wearing since 2012, but I think this is it's last year in our family.  I'll send it to Jeannette so her kids can get five more years out of it. 

A pumpkin hooded sweater matched with shorts.  Ah, fall in Arizona. 

I worked on the 22nd.  The one time a year I get lunch from the cafeteria is at the Thanksgiving luncheon the day before Thanksgiving. I was too busy to stay in the cafeteria though, so I brought my tray back to my room and ate while I did paperwork. 

We did a Thanksgiving food activity that day. 

That afternoon we drove to Tucson.  I arrived to my parent's house to find my mom making roll up cookies with her leftover pie crust.  See I told you. 

Then I gave my mom a Thanksgiving banner that I had bought for her. 

So we did a side-by-side comparison of the banner I gave her and the banner she bought herself.  

Up next: 5,000 pictures of Thanksgiving food, and a few people thrown in for good measure.