Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was the first time in 4 years that we did not have large amounts of Kevin's family around to celebrate a holiday. I wondered if it was going to feel a bit lonely. Luckily for us, Alyssa came to visit for the week and my grandparents also drove to our house to spend Thanksgiving Day with us. I love my family! It is so rejuvenating to spend time with the family you grew up with! It always gives me a better sense of who I am. :)

In preparation for Thanksgiving Dinner, I spent hours preparing homemade pies (I made my first apple pie ever and it was delicious!), dry brining our turkey, and making pretty much everything else homemade--stuffing, yams, and rolls.

Susie, on the other hand, focused on decorations. She and Tyler made turkey place cards. Susie also created menus for all our guests. She did this entirely on her own without any encouragement. So cute! (In order, in case you don't understand her sounded-out words: stuffing, apple pie, yams, turkey, potatoes and gravy--I especially love this one)Susie's kindergarten class did a very traditional Thanksgiving play. She was an Indian girl.
Susie and her adorable friend Katie (her mom, Jo, is from England and a good friend of mine).
We created this turkey basket. It had double duty--our centerpiece and a basket for rolls.
Our Thanksgiving table. Oops! We forgot to take a picture before dinner. Here are our plates, all cleaned off.
Grandma Dena and the kids. My grandparents were very generous! They walked into our house with their hardly-used, like-new Wii in hand. They gave it to us!
Grandpa and the kids.
My pies! Yum!