Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was very fun this year, because we had it at our house! There were 20 extra people who joined us, including my mom's sister Mary and her husband and 4 kids, my mom's brother Luke and his wife, my mom's aunts- Maija and Ilga and Ilga's husband and two of her three kids-, both sets of grandparents, my great grandmother (Mamu), and our new friends, Chad and "Rosie" (I will come back to that story later).



So we had a lot of people at our house, and my mom, as always, decorated so beautifully! I love the color palette and it was so much fun having almost everyone around the same table!

Because we were having so many people, my mom and dad made two turkeys: my mom roasted one in the oven and my dad grilled one. The grill one was delicious! He soaked it in this brine overnight and then cooked it on the grill.

The table settings were so creative. My mom is amazing!

Sophie was EXTREMELY fluffy that day and needed to be trimmed, but she had a lot of fun playing with Mary's kids!

So, we had two nonfamily members at our house this Thanksgiving... Chad and Elizabeth. Here's the story: My mom was at Sam's Club getting a diet coke from the fountain drink machine up front. It wasn't working, and a man tells the employee manning the stand. It is fixed and the man let my mom get her drink first. They start talking, and he tells her his name is Chad and he and his girlfriend are in Omaha because he was in construction and was sent here for a project. When they got here, though, they went to the office and there was a sign on the door saying it had been cancelled. So they are trying to find a way to get back home (Seattle area). Right now they are camping out in a tent behind Wal-mart with their supposedly stolen stove from Sams (my mom saw him unwrapping it and putting it into his backpack), in the cold. So they exchanged good-byes and my mom's heart went out for Chad and his girlfriend. So she called my dad and asked him if she could invite them to Thanksgiving. He said yes, so she gave Chad my dad's # and that was that.

We never got the name of Chad's girlfriend before Thanksgiving, so my dad gave her the nickname "Rosie". Unfortunately, her name wasn't Rosie...err, it wasn't unfortunately, but that would've been halarious if it was! (It was Elizabeth).

I thought this was a cool view. The black "frame" in the foreground is two slats on one of the chairs at the table. It kind of looks like a child's view.

This was one of my favorite Thanksgivings. I loved it because of what I have said above and because I was able to be in the kitchen a lot more. In previous years, with family gatherings at our house, I would usually make some cookies and help mom with the little household chores that needed to get done. This year, on the other hand, I cooked a lot! I did the mashed potatoes, cut up the sweet potatoes, made the cardamom carrots, made a blueberry pie, cut the bread, and more. I had so much fun doing that because I love to cook!

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, and full of friends, family, and food!

I also loved taking pictures of the decor this year, though I don't have many people in them! hopefully I'll get more of those in here later.