thanksgiving

This year we stayed home and hosted dinner at our house with some of Pete's side of the family as guests.  Paul and Kerri came with their six kids and then Pete's mom and his youngest brother, Ben, were able to come from California for the weekend.  Pete did an amazing job cooking the turkey, as usual.  I know it is terrible that I have never made a turkey, but the raw animal meat just gets to me and Pete is so willing.  He makes the best mashed potatoes and gravy too!  I think my family would starve without him.  He even made pumpkin pie this year, that Isaac pretty much claimed as his own and snarfed most of it down himself. 

Don't worry, I wasn't completely useless.  I always help Pete with prep work and am an excellent assistant. :)  I made a veggie tray and made our family favorite Beau Monde dip.   I also made some artichoke dip that is another favorite recipe ever since my friend, Rachael, made it for a church function, like what, 6 or 7 years ago?!  (Time flies!)  Of course, I also did my duty by getting the house ready and cleaned up for guests and had fun providing an activity for the kids.  We bought some inexpensive fabric for the kids to use for dressing up as Indians.  (No, I didn't sew, just cut things up!).  They earned feathers by telling me something about Thanksgiving and then telling me things they were thankful for.  I hope they had fun dressing up...I think they did. 

It was a busy day, but we enjoyed having Pete's family around.  We hadn't celebrated any holidays with his side for several years because of moves out of state, but now we have some who have moved back to Washington, so it's a lot of fun.  And of course, it is so fun for the kids to have relatives around more often.

Pete and Taylor playing Jenga!

Caleb and Uncle Ben playing Yahtzee!  (Caleb is a complete addict!)

We appreciate Ben so much because even though he is a senior in high school, he still hangs out with all our boys, playing games, playing the nintendo and jumping on the trampoline.  They think he is the coolest!  Thanks Ben.  :)

Here's Isaac chatting it up with Grandma Suzy!  I think he is telling her about someone at school who isn't very nice.  :)

Unfortunately, for the rest the weekend Pete had to work like a mad dog.  It isn't normal for a deadline to be the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, but this year that was the case, so he didn't get too much of a break.  Thankfully he works at home so it doesn't seem quite as bad.  However, he did get up early to play basketball at the church on Friday and he took Ben along.  When he got home, even though he had lots of work to do, he let me go shopping for a few hours by myself.  (Not that he minded vegging out on the Nintendo).  I only lasted for a few stores anyway before I was worn out, so it was plenty of time to hit Gymboree, Pacific Fabrics and JoAnne's...remember I have that Christmas quilt to finish up! 

The remainder of the weekend was pretty much spent watching some good Christmas rental movies and Kung Fu Panda and also playing more video games and board games.  Not to mention a few of us taking a turn with the flu villain. 

I also started the Christmas decorating so the house is now looking more like this:

What about yours?!  I hope to see how you decorate your house at Christmas time!  :) 

Happy Holidays!  

Comments

[Karina]

Sounds like such a great Thanksgiving. Loving the decorations! I'm still working on mine, hopefully we'll be done with the tree today.

[Kerri]

We had a great time, and the food was yummy!!! The kids did love your activity.

I'm glad you got to go out and do some shopping too! I made it to the same places and also Old Navy and Target. It was fun!!! Lots of great deals!! I couldn't pass them up. :)

I like your table decorations! We did our decorations during the week-end too. We decided to put the tree up. I guess we're not cutting one down this year. :( There is always next year.

[Natalie]

I love the holidays!!! Of coarse they are always busy but I love the hussle and bussle of it all! Happy Holidays!

[Brenda]

I love the Indian gear! Awesome! :)

[Trista]

Cute little Indians! Looks like they all had fun :)

[Katrina]

Wow- I can't wait to see everything. Your deco looks gorgeous... as always! We will be gone so much from our house, that we probably won't really have time to put anything up, or time to enjoy it if we did put it up. Bummer. But we will enjoy everyone elses!

Looks like Thanksgiving was a blast. I think that your dressing as Indians was a fabulous idea! It seemed like they were having a lot of fun with it. See you tomorrow!!!

[Nici]

Tasha,
You are such a cute mom, always making the most of every day!!! Glad your thanksgiving was so fun!!
nici