we gave thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  We hosted three other families and our adult son G, a single guy who we basically count as one of our own.  So in all there were 9 adults, 3 teenagers, 9 children and one baby.  I felt the need to differentiate the ages because two of those teenagers are boys and could out eat any adult man present.  Except for maybe G, who's 26 and still has the metabolism of a teenager.  Also, the only child present that actually eats a small amount is the 8 month old.  The next youngest, Judah, is now a full fledged Pittman eater.

So we fed a lot of people.  I made my first turkey ever.  It was stressful to think about, but not at all in the actual process.  Thanks to the help of my wonderful friend E, who is a culinary expert, and PW, who we all know is a lover of butter and all things wonderful.  I couldn't have done it without you.  When I make my speech after winning the award for 'Best Rookie Turkey of the Year' I will be sure to mention you both.

Here is a picture of the loveliness.

It was sad that only minutes later, during the carving process, this beautiful bird tried to escape and jumped onto the floor.  I will just say, I was not the one carving.  And leave it at that.  It was one of those National Lampoons type moments that left us all drop jawed and silent.  It was quickly scooped up and juices cleaned off the floor moments before our lunch guests arrived.  It may have been wrong, but we didn't tell a sole until after we ate.

This was the rest of the spread.  Can you say gluttony???

In addition to the turkey I made gravy, sweet potato casserole, seven layer salad, dinner rolls, creamed peas with bacon, and cranberry sauce (straight from the can, Amen!).  As you see, there was plenty of other wonderful things to eat.  One family and G stayed through the afternoon--my friend K and I took off and let the men watch the kids and did a little shopping and walking off of lunch--and we ate leftovers for dinner.  There were barely crumbs left after that.  It was a great day.

Friday night our playgroup families, plus a visiting family with small children, got together for soup, sandwiches and dessert.  E organized some fun family games, in addition to being a fabulous cook she is quite crafty, and we ate and worshipped through song.  It was just so wonderful.  Before moving here I prayed for one family that would be in our same life stage that we could be friends with and God provided that times five.  As we live life with all of these families I am more and more thankful!  We also got to talk with family back in the States, which is always so great.  Hard to believe we will get to celebrate with them in person next year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!