Thanksgiving Day

We had a really nice Thanksgiving.  

We've had Thanksgiving at our house for enough years that it feels pretty easy to prepare for now.  

It's nice to have a routine established.  

This year I was feeling quite full of myself for having things together and so I boldly went to a movie with Dan the night before Thanksgiving.  

I was making a Triple Chocolate Pecan pie and put it into the oven before I left.  

I asked Mom to take it out when the timer went off.  

She did.  

But in my haste I neglected to turn down the oven from when I had made the pie crust...

so it burned.

The pie in the front would be the new pie that I made Thanksgiving morning. 

The pie in back would be my "humble pie." 

Everything else turned out great and we were so appreciative of the lovely fruit tray that my mother in law put together.  

How gorgeous is this?

My brother and sister in law always come through 

with a fantastic spread of appetizers that serve as lunch. 

These are just a few.

Dan's brother David (who came in from Las Vegas) made his great marinated olives which I was really looking forward to and they didn't disappoint. 

Here are Dan and David....

And of course, Mom was a huge help with the meal. 

Mom makes the pumpkin pie, the sweet potatoes, the stuffing (which is SO good), 

roasts the turkey and makes the apple crack. 

I do the table decor, brine the turkey 

(I tried the Pioneer woman's brine this year it was great!), 

and I makethe mashed potatoes, the gravy, the rolls and a pecan pie. 

It works out well.

We started the morning with the parade. Which is tradition. 

I love the parade. 

Here is Kaitlin in an outfit that she put together before we got her dressed. 

She was watching the parade and doing a little bit of a dance.

I particularly love the skirt on backward, the 2 different shoes 

and the flower in the middle of her forehead.

Here is her transformation after we got her ready. 

Dan took this photo. She cooperated for him!

I tried to take one later, and she wasn't so cooperative, 

but I love her sweet little face in this one.

She hasn't been napping well and has been a disaster lately. 

At least, I think it's her lack of sleep. 

It could be that she's approaching three. 

For now, I'm going to choose to believe it's sleep. 

Surely a good nap will take care of everything! :)  

On Thanksgiving it was day 3 of no nap 

(she just stands in her crib or stands on her head in her crib--seriously).  

We sat down for dinner and the fact that the mashed potatoes 

were not whipping cream put her right over the edge.  

It was more than she could handle.

She ended up watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner.

After 3 kids, I've learned when to pick a battle.

And just a few scenes from the day. 

Dan's parents....

Dan and Mike....

Dan's brother David....

Mama and the Bug....

We really missed Michelle's parents who had to cancel due to the weather. We missed you Dale and Glenda! But we certainly understood and will look forward to seeing you at Christmas!

I printed out a couple of Thanksgiving fill in the blank stories that were sort of like "Mad Libs" that we did while we sat around the table. Matthew and Isaiah really had fun with that. 

The cousins had a great time playing.  They spent most of their time in the play room.

I didn't force a "cousin picture."

I'm saving that request for Christmas.

After dinner the kids decorated gingerbread houses. Isaiah and Matthew especially had fun with this and I don't think we heard a peep out of Kaitlin who sat for probably a half hour just piling icing and candy on two little cookies. She was so pleased!

Thank you, everyone for all that you contributed to make the day so nice!