This was the first year ever that we didn’t travel for Thanksgiving. We felt like taking a long trip in the car would be pretty difficult with such a young baby, so we’d planned to enjoy the holiday at home. We had a restful day, but honestly, I did end up missing seeing all our relatives (and the hilarity that ensues when a whole lot of family gets together)! It just felt a little too quiet to be Thanksgiving!

In the morning, Michael went to play football with some guys from church, so we girls whipped up some pumpkin bread for breakfast and watched the Macy’s parade. I loved watching it as a child, and it was so much fun to see my girls enjoying it just as much as I always did. Kaya was completely obsessed with the Hello Kitty balloon, and Kaelyn cried when her favorite puppy balloon walked off screen. They both got excited when they saw Spongebob, since he’s Grandpa Skip’s favorite, and insisted that I take a picture and send it to him.

While the food cooked, we spent the afternoon making bead animals. They invited me to join in, and they were thrilled when I helped each of them create their own animal.Nella hung out with Daddy for a while…I had never cooked the traditional Thanksgiving meal before, so in the weeks leading up to the big day, I collected advice and counsel from anyone willing to talk to me about making a decent turkey. I ended up dry-brining the bird with salt and some of my favorite spices about three days ahead of time. Immediately before I put it in the oven, I shoved some lemon slices and a few chopped cloves of garlic into the body cavity, placed a few slices of butter under the skin, and brushed some melted butter over top of it.

The meat turned out so tender and flavorful, and it made a ton of gravy. Mmmm.

Michael carved it for us.We had garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and biscuits along with our turkey.Our table wasn’t set all fancy, and I pretty much had to bribe my kids to eat anything other than broccoli and rolls… but it was a delicious dinner with the people I love most.
I’ve got a couple of broccoli monsters over here. I can’t believe my kids beg for vegetables, but I’m not complaining!
For dessert, we had the traditional choco-mint freeze (made even easier this year because Kroger had peppermint ice cream)!Dessert makes everyone happy.And apparently, a little crazy.