Click HERE for our 2008 Thanksgiving....
Click HERE for our 2009 Thanksgiving....
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Each year, since Marc and I have been married, we've hosted Thanksgiving for both of our families.
This year, however, we decided we needed a "break" from hosting. Marc's parents had some other plans (however, we'll be getting together with them on Sunday evening). And, my mom graciously agreed to host Thanksgiving this year.
So, it ended up being the three of us, my parents, and my brother and sister-in-law (Joel and Amber) along with their three girls (Grace, Natalie, and Maddie).
Marc fried the turkey, along with my dad and brother's assistance.
Soooooo, because of the turkey frying (and the fact that we own the turkey fryer), the three of us got to my parents' early in the day.
Marc and my dad got the turkey fryer going....It was a cold Thanksgiving this year (relative to Kansas); therefore, you'll notice in the outdoor photos, everybody's bundled.
Here's a pic of Marc -- checking the temperature of the oil BEFORE the turkey ever went in.
Soon, once the oil was fully heated to the appropriate temperature, Marc and my dad got the turkey going.
Marc's standing "back" from the fryer in this photo to avoid getting further splattered by grease....At this point, he had already gotten some grease splattered on his jeans. Fortunately, this wonderful wife was able to get the jeans cleaned the next day.
At this point, inside, Luke made it well known to me that he wanted to be outside with the guys. I told him that he HAD to wear his coat, mittens, and a stocking hat. Luke completely obeyed on this one. I was very proud of his obedience. He insisted on wearing Marc's Texas Longhorns cap, and so, he wore it OVER his stocking hat -- very creative for a 2 year-old boy.
I knew Marc and my dad would keep him away from the turkey fryer....Luke did a GREAT job at again, obeying.
Soon, my brother and sister-in-law and their girls arrived. Joel (my brother) stayed outside while all of the girls hung out inside.
It's a tradition in our family that outside, while the turkey is frying, the guys snack on chips and dip (they call it pre-eating). In the past, Marc's mom has made the dip. I took that over this year. They had it all set up in the garage.
At this point, Luke came in and told me he was ready to eat. Knowing that it would be a bit before all of the food was ready, I went on ahead and let him eat (I figure that was easier than explaining to a hungry two year-old that he needed to wait for Thanksgiving). Luke, being the independent one that he is, had no problem eating by himself at the table.
Soon, though, all of the food was ready. This picture doesn't do it justice, but there truly was a lot of food for a not very big family gathering.
We really have so much to be thankful for.
Natalie, our three year-old niece, was really ready to eat. She beat us all to the table.
Soon, we all joined her, and even Luke sat with us for a bit and ate a bit more despite having already eaten.
And, in case you're wondering -- Marc, the big eater, did not go hungry on this day.
Yep, this is Marc's plate....
After we all finished eating, we all just hung out while food digested.
My mom has this goofy pair of glasses, and we all laughed as Luke kept putting them on.
And, of course, Marc got in on the goofiness....Like Father, Like Son....
Toward late afternoon, it was obvious that Luke was getting tired. (Note -- I'm usually a bit of a "Sleep Nazi" with Luke's sleeping schedule. Truly, this was the first time in Luke's life that he'd gone without a nap....He did VERY WELL, despite that fact).
So, Marc hung out with him for a bit on the couch -- to wind down a bit.
After awhile, we got everything together and headed home....Luke was out fairly quickly in the car. How sweet!
It was a fun day with family, and as I previously mentioned, we have sooooo much to be thankful for.
The amount of food we had at our meal was borderline embarrassing as I know people in other parts of the world would LOVE to have that.
I feel like I've been a bit glum lately -- for all kind of reasons -- of which I won't bore all of you on this blog.
On days like Thanksgiving, my "glumness" is embarrassing. I really have no reason to complain. My life's very good.
I'm so thankful to God for sending His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. Boy -- I most certainly need Jesus in my life, and I'm thankful I have Him in my life.
I'm so thankful for my husband, Marc. He's really a wonderful husband to me, and I know I don't always show how grateful I am for him.
I'm also thankful for our son, Luke. There are days I feel like I only gripe at him. But, almost everyday now, I realize that I'm as imperfect as he is, and I'm often trying to make him the perfect little human. None of us are perfect, and Luke's no exception to that.
I'm slowly learning to love him the way he is, and I'm learning to not expect absolute perfection out of him.
What a WONDERFUL gift Luke is....I vaguely remember what life was like before him, and that's O.K....Life certainly is wonderful with him.
I hope I cherish each day with Marc and Luke :)
(This photo was taken yesterday. I had this on Facebook, but Luke, all of a sudden, decided he was too big to sit in a booster seat).
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading about our's!
2 comments:
i don't think i would like all of my food 'touching' like Marc's plate...hehe
I like the pre-eating bit. I remember the time we had that turkey in the fryer at your house! Bible study this week! We'll try to cheer you up!
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