Thanksgiving

Since we were eating Thanksgiving dinner at 3, we decided to feed the kids a brunch to help them make it till then. Before brunch all the kids went with their Daddy on our very own Turkey Trot. :)  After yummy homemade waffles with apple cider syrup and clementines, we all worked together to get the house in order for our company. The kids all willingly worked hard and at noon we put on a video for them to watch.

Within 5 minutes this is what we found:

I brined a 19 lb. turkey this year and used the awesome convection roast setting on my oven. The turkey was done in 80 minutes! --and it tasted moist and tender. I will definitely be doing that again next year. Since our friends were bringing most of the traditional side dishes, I made homemade stuffing for the first time. I made Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Apples, and it was delicious! I also made the gravy, of course, and I did Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash.

I had fun decorating the adult table. My kids collected the acorns for me. :)

By the time everyone brought their contributions we had a delicious feast ahead of us.

I had to wake Sebastian up from his nap (he had slept over 3 hours). Don't let his expression fool you. He was excited to see that friends were here to play!

It was 60 degrees outside, so the men took the kids outside to play after dinner, while the women (3 of which are quite pregnant!) relaxed and visited.

 I love this happy little smile!

When they all came back in we feasted again on pumpkin pie, chocolate brownie peanut butter pie and berry cheesecake.

Such wonderful food and fun company! I am so grateful to know such good people, and to be able to enjoy such plenty.

After everyone left and we were cleaning up, Emma said to me, "That was a great Thanksgiving!"
I seriously love that girl! All of our guests this year had children much younger than her, so she sat with us at the "adult" table and spent most of her time with us ladies, and still she had a fabulous time.