Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving in the Wilderness

We had a wonderful and mellow Thanksgiving this year. Just the 5 of us at home with a few good things to eat. I'm sure we could have joined in with the Hixon crew this year, since we have the family tie, but they were having ALL 10 children and their families for dinner. I think that is close to 60 people... so we opted for our own family meal. At first Billy suggested I buy a nice piece of salmon for dinner and we just make it really easy on ourselves. I however, really wanted turkey (and the leftovers to follow) since we only cook one once a year. So turkey it was. I also made cheesy potatoes, oven baked green beans, butter leaf salad and a layered jello in individual cups. We used the help of Pillsbury and had croissants :) All in all, not to much fuss, I didn't even end up making apple crisp like I planned. We had root beer floats.
William had collected some fall leaves at the playground in the morning where Billy was playing football with the elders quorum. (I got to go for a run with Jamie!) He put those along the table runner to decorate for our feast and he did a great job.
Zachary was sleeping when everything was ready to dig into and William refused to try anything. So, Billy and I sat down together and ate on our china and enjoyed every bite.

I can't forget about our thankful tree we made during family night the week of Thanksgiving! The boys were really excited to hand me leaves and tell me things they were thankful for and then hang them up. It was a full tree. Everything from family & primary to dirt & macaroni and cheese.
I sure am thankful for my family! I'm glad we have this special day set aside to celebrate our gratitude and I think I would like to start setting a few more aside during the year as well- one day a year is just not enough :) Maybe we will celebrate quarterly.

A funny thing about Thanksgiving in the wilderness that I have noticed the past several years...
We have wild turkeys that hang around our neighborhood everyday. I don't think there is a day that they aren't by someones house and when it's by ours the boys chase them away. (I don't care for the turkey poop in the yard) Every year at Thanksgiving, the turkeys are no where to be found! I have made note of this each year we have been here, that the turkeys disappear for a few days around the Thanksgiving holiday. It's really weird. They must smell their kind being cooked and they hide or something. Anyway, they are back now that Turkey day is over.

2 comments:

  1. Ha ha ha... I was going to make a comment about the Turkey's in your yard, that you could just kill one for your meal. Too funny... they must know. Sounds like a great Thanksgiving. Low key is not a bad thing. I love that William collected leaves to decorate. It was a VERY nice touch. :) Can't wait to see you for Christmas. Love you!

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  2. I do think that is so funny about the turkeys! And I love your thankful tree. My sisters-in-law loved your house. Rachel wants to be your neighbor.

    Thanks for hanging out with me, it was really fun and I'm glad I got to see you as often as I did. You are awesome to do your own thanksgiving, I haven't ever done that yet. If I ever have to, I might opt for something crazy like chinese food. ;)

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