Thanksgiving!!!

Well...it has been about a month and a half since I posted last...and I have my stubborn streak to thank for that!!!! I literally started this post on Thanksgiving night and had every intention of having it posted before most of you had celebrated!!! But alas, it was not meant to be...and since then I have tried no less than 15 times - no exaggeration!!! Invariably I'd steal a moment and set up some pictures to upload then get caught up with the boys or the power (and consequently the internet) would go out and for some reason the autosave must not have been working because I'd come back a step back instead of ahead!!! So frustrating!!! And that's where the stubborn streak kicked in...the more times I tried and failed, the more determined I was not to give up!!! I hope it's worth it....

So here it is..FINALLY...

Thanksgiving for us was great in spite of not being with our families!!! We started prepping the night before. There were a number of people in and out of our home over the course of the evening - helping and/or just coming to see the progress. Three of our friends hung out and helped the entire time!! We had a blast - I think we were up till around 1 or 2 am!!!

We made..

2 apple pies

several dozen diner rolls

several kilos of mashed potatoes

7 kilos of caramelized carrots (one of my favorite new discoveries!!)

2 turkeys

1 chicken

I think that was all...

These are just a few photos from the night before...

..kneading fun

so many potato and apple peals!!!!

And the day of...there was much shaping of rolls...

some fun shapes...

...and prepping of birds...the funky looking one on the right was fresh from a nearby village!

Breakfast break for Thorin!!
...and moments of discipline...
Sterling had a blast getting in on the action!!! He loves flour and making dough (which he can say as clear as a bell)!!!

...and stolen moments amidst the hubbub...

..and picking of turkeys...

Our friend Nate, helping me set the tables...My vision was to have everyone sitting at one big table (otherwise it just wouldn't have felt like a real Thanksgiving meal!!). There were around 32 people and not a whole lot of space so we ended up with 6 tables in a bit of a 'C' shape. It was tight but no one seemed to mind!! Quite the contrary actually! Lots of people came up to us afterwards and told us that it really felt like Thanksgiving!!!

...and finally, FEASTING...





Hanging out after dinner...Andy and Sterling
Sterling - practicing for his days as an old man smoking stogies.
Andy with Sterling again...we are so blessed to have guys around who really enjoy the boys and treat them as if they were their own nephews!!

This is definitely not the best one of Thorin (his eyes are all funky) but we didn't have many of him from the day so I decided to include it anyway : )