With this being the year that the Schillings joined us, we got to have them spend the night Wednesday night. After indulging in Costco's version of Cinnabons Thanksgiving morning, we settled in to the living room with our Macy's Day Bingo sheets to watch the parade.
For Michele and I, though - we were a bit distracted with the ads. Now, if you've followed my blog or have known me long enough, you would know that it is a sacred ritual to save the mighty newspaper full of Black Friday ads to devour after the Thanksgiving meal with Mom and the rest of the family at our side to peruse and contribute ideas. HOWEVER, due to "Black Friday" now beginning at midnight - or even 10pm on Thanksgiving, we decided we had to stomp on tradition by opening up the newspaper early. This shows our mock alarm and disapproval over having to start our shopping so early....
While our home is definitely not big enough to accommodate a family of 11, the dogs sure don't mind it. People everywhere....they are very thankful.
Around 11am, we joined Mom and Dad out at their house. With the Whites, Kenjon, and his brother Martel joining us, we had to reposition and make the table even bigger this year.
While the "menfolk" were hanging out in the living room, and us girls were working away in the kitchen, the kids decided to entertain themselves with Mom's hats in the rec room. I guess that makes Stephie a kid too....
I'm not sure at what point we are going to invite our girls to join us...at this point, the three of us are far too efficient and having way too much fun together to let anyone else in the kitchen. The preparation of all of the food is almost as enjoyable as feasting on it....for sure it lasts longer!
Not sure when I got this apron, but John wanted to take the pic, so I indulged him.
I think this is the first time we've ever taken a pic of the turkey before its been carved up. Our family carves it prior to serving it on the table, so we never get that "Norman Rockwell" image of everyone drooling over the perfectly prepared bird.
Raspberry Pretzel Salad....Travis would enjoy it if only the raspberries were seedless - an ongoing issue of discussion with him.
Oh, speak of the "devil"...(ha, he's sitting next to me as I'm typing this post and I'm enjoying messing with him). If he looks a little tired, it's because he ran the 5K Turkey Stuffer with Heather Spinney in the morning. Good for them...so NOT the choice I made.
The one job we did give to the girls was to get the "drink orders" and work on filling them.
Caught in the act - Brayden's supposed to be helping, but he's captivated with picking his fingernails (of which he has none left....)
Nothing like "Sour Melon Gatorade" to make a Thanksgiving meal complete. They even had the audacity to ask if they could keep the bottle underneath their chairs to accommodate for easy refills.....
As for us "grown-ups" - we went for the hard stuff....Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. =)
Following our delicious meal (we didn't waste time taking pictures when the food was hot at the table) - Stephie sat down with the girls to get some Christmas present ideas.
About an hour after eating, Kenjon finished his practice and meetings and was able to join us along with his brother, Martel - who surprised him by driving up from California so he wouldn't be without family on Thanksgiving. =) We let them fill their plates with the abundance of food still remaining, and after they had their turn filling up - we headed outside for some "Close Encounters of the Equine Kind"
Kenjon has never been around horses, much less close enough to touch them or feed them. It was a whole new experience for him. He was blown away with how big Selila is (much less Holly, the other horse not pictured), but we were all quick to point out how they are actually small in comparison to many horses. (He would have really been intimidated by Merlin!)
Mom was in Heaven showing off her "pride and joys" - teaching Kenjon how to keep his hand flat when feeding them, and so on. Priceless.
After visiting with the horses (and securing them safely in their stalls), we took over their arena and turned it into the gridiron. Now, those of you concerned with Duck football, rest assured that we made Martel and Kenjon the team captains, coaches, and "non-contact" QB's....so there would be no chance for injury....
Kenjon played with the kids, and Martel captained John, Michele, Mom, and myself. I'll tell you now, we lost. By quite a bit. But, that's how we wanted it to happen, of course. In fact, Brayden was REALLY GOOD. We actually tried when we played against him...and what we got was him intercepting our passes, juking around our attempts to pull his flags, and his TD pass receptions from Kenjon. I guess that kid really has learned some skills in his years playing on Pop Warner. =)
It was also so fun to see the littler kids getting their chance to play - oh so precious. Especially Ellie running along the sidelines with her big score.
(This next one is one of my all-time favorite pics....oh Mom....I just wish Grandpa Plum could have witnessed this....)
A parting shot of the Turkey Bowl participants - SOOOOOO great!
Soon after heading in, we indulged in all of the pies and desserts, did some more dishes and loaded up to embark in "Part Two" of the Thanksgiving Day Adventures. John, Brayden, and Travis were headed north for the Woodburn Outlets - and Michele, Mom and I were preparing for Walmart, Target, Kohls, and the rest of the offerings here in Eugene....more about that in the next post.....
1 comment:
I don't know where to start....you guys always seem to have SO much fun!! I love the picture of you and your sister with the sale paper...too cute!! Glad you had such a great Thanksgiving!:)
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