Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving something happened that has never happened before.  Mom and I roasted our first turkey.  I know!  Neither one of us had ever done it before, so it was an adventure. 

We had a relaxed morning, and then got our show on the road.  I have to be honest (and the pictures make it hard to tell a fibber), it was a turkey breast, not a whole bird.  Mom thought it looked more like a fish mouth.  I can see what she meant...

"ARGHHH!  DON'T EAT ME!  YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!  I'M NO GOOD!"

Well, not yet anyway...we had some work to do.  I stuffed butter up under the skin (ewww!  I really hate touching raw meat.) and gave it a sprinkle with some seasonings.  I also rubbed butter inside the cavity.  There was a lot of butter involved. 

I do wish, and so did Mom, that we had been more prepared with some fresh herbs and an onion to stuff in there.  I didn't realize there was so much room inside a turkey breast.   We could have put a wide-screen TV in there, added a sofa, the guys could've watched the game...

[You know, my husband just returned from a Christmas party with a plate of food for me and I was sitting here eating it-delicious food, but not so appetizing material in front of me...just to keep you informed.]

This is me washing up after introducing all that yummy butter to our nice little (1/2)bird...I had smashed some inside-the-turkey-frozen-juice/ice with my fingers accidentally earlier and it splattered all over me, so I had to run and shower.  That's why there's a towel on my head.  I just can't handle raw meat juice in my hair.  No, sir. 

Bye, bye birdie...we'll see you again real soon!

Well, it was done sooner than we thought it would be, the turkey!  Mom got to carve it while the rest of us pulled a few other things together quickly.

We sat down to eat around 3:15.  Here are the three Stooges Pilgrims.

Everyone had a full plate.  Mine is the one without gravy.  I know!  Crazy, isn't it?  Am I even American?  Hey, is gravy American?

This is my brother Matt.  He was able to join us for our special meal (and overnight too).

But this is really my brother Matt...

A little Where's Waldo on Thanksgiving, or any day, is fun...

Actually, this is a funny story.  My mom bought this Waldo book at a consignment store.  She thought Christian would enjoy finding that crazy character just like my brother did when he was little.  Well, when they pulled the book out and started looking through it, they realized that every single Waldo is already circled with a brown marker.  Oops.  

They still had fun looking for other things in the pictures.  There were long lists of wacky things to search for, so they got a kick out of finding things like boots with beards and bottoms on fire.

Eliana had her own brand of fun.  Who needs toys when you have metal cornbread pans?

She got a lot of mileage out of that pan.  I'll have to get one of those (this one was my mom's).

We are a picture-crazy family, and my mom had brought these little Pilgrim hats for the kids.  Christian early on broke one of them, so my mom tried to hold it on Eliana for a photo.  She was thrilled, can't you tell?

We finally gave up that fight...and Grandma decided she would wear the hat.  That would show Eliana!

I think it's kind of cute.

The rest of the day was very low-key.  While grown-up boys were watching football across the hall, the kids watched a sweet movie, Eliana took a nap, and Mom and I played a little Scrabble (it's an addiction when we're together). 

Looking around at everyone just made me feel so grateful for family.  Mike was not able to be with us in person, but we spoke on the phone.  We also got to talk to his mom and sister, and the kids talked with their cousins.  I am so thankful that the Lord has given us a close family, even though we are separated by many miles most of the time.  These moments together are so  special, and I cherish them!