Our Thanksgiving ...

We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday, and it was perfect. We had a nice relaxing day in the morning. Us ladies went out and got some last minute groceries. The men folk went to a movie. David went hunting in the early morning. And we just cooked and waited and waited for the Turkey. David wanted to smoke it, and so he put it in in the morning, and it was his first time smoking a Turkey, and we realized sometime in the afternoon that it wasn't cooking fast enough, so we turned on the oven and finished cooking it in the oven. So, we waited and waited. Also, during this time, Ben started getting sick. He actually spent the whole day with diarrhea, and was in bed all day. So, we were also kind of waiting for him to see if he perked up at all so he could enjoy Thanksgiving meal with us. No such luck. He was down for the count. He spent all day and evening in bed and in the bathroom. Poor guy! Finally like at 7pm we ate! It was SO delicious! But it was just kind of chaotic, because Ben wasn't even there with us, it was so late, we were like ready to put the little kids down for bed. I mean, it was totally fun and nice being together, and we had a good day, but it just wasn't your typical Thanksgiving meal. 

Here is Uncle David giving the boys a lesson on gratitude. Uncle David is such a good guy, we are lucky to have him as an uncle!

The kid table:

Because of the illness, we didn't even do anything to make it fancy or special, and I didn't even get a picture of the adult table in the formal dining room. But even though it was a bit different than normal and than usual, we DID have a wonderfully delicious thanksgiving meal!!!

Our favorite part of the meal? My mother in law's famous banana cream pudding. Oh my gosh, it's to die for! I requested it for Thanksgiving dessert on the first day that we got there, and my mother in law being the wonderful woman that she is, she made it for me!!! She also made Ben a peanut butter chocolate cake, that was delicious, but he, of course, only ate like 2 bites of it!!! The stinker, asked her to make it, then only ate just a little bit, leaving the rest of it for us to eat! Thanks Ben!

We also tried to recreate the delicious brie and turkey sandwiches that we had for lunch in the city at the cafe in the Museum of  Natural History for lunch the day before. They were good, but just not quite as good as at the restaurant, of course! :)

This year, I'm thankful for in-laws that seem more like blood relatives, and the comfort and love we feel when we're with them! And cousins that feel more like brothers. We are so lucky to have such wonderful families!!!