Thanksgiving Day

I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving.  With Cody now living close by, both my kids would be home!  This would be the first time in many years we'd have the family together at home for the holiday.

The turkey is stuffed and ready to roast

The day began with me getting up in the early morning hours to run a turkey trot at the zoo.  It was a cold day (20 degrees!) so I bundled up.  The course was the same as last year's race - we ran down a big hill, and then turned around and ran back up it.  Going up the hill was a great body-warmer.  It also felt good to burn some calories in preparation for the big meal.

Time to put this bird in the oven!

After the race, it was time to start cooking.  Cody baked a bunch of pies the night before, but saved one apple pie to bake that morning.  Once the apple pie was out of the oven, the turkey went in.  Once the turkey was done, it was time to bake sweet potatoes, green been casserole and dinner rolls.  My oven was busy for many hours.

Cody and Roger prepare the fruit salad

The meal was a family effort.  Roger peeled and cut up potatoes for his famous mashed potatoes.  Denise made the green been casserole.  I prepped the turkey and stuffing.  Roger and Cody put together a fruit salad.

Cody, our master pie-maker

When you're cooking so many items, it's hard to time things so that everything is done at once.  We had to wait forever for the sweet potatoes to finish baking.  Luckily, the other food stayed warm (especially the turkey!)

Cody's fellow seminarians joined us for dinner

Cody invited some of the men from his seminary to join us for dinner.  We had four Montanans travel from Mt. Angel to be our guests.  The years Cody spent Thanksgiving in Missoula by himself, he always had friends who invited him to dinner.  I wanted to return the favor by providing Thanksgiving to someone who wasn't able to be home for the holiday.

Thanksgiving photo of my kids

The seminarians were all very intelligent, interesting men.  They were also so nice and polite!  It was really fun to have them as guests for Thanksgiving.  And when it came time to say the grace, we were well covered.


Gathered around the table for Thanksgiving dinner

Dinner was wonderful.  We gathered around the table, ate lots of turkey, and enjoyed hearing seminary stories from our guests.  After dinner, we had our choice of three different pies for dessert.  Cody's apple pie was the overwhelming favorite. 

Cody's seminary brothers had fun playing with Bear.  And I know Bear loved the extra attention.  When our guests got ready to leave, one of the men remarked that Bear would fit right in at the seminary - he was the proper color!

I get in on the dinner action too!

Thanksgiving 2010 was a wonderful day.  It's nice to have a holiday to stop and take note of all the great things we have that are always taken for granted.

I'm thankful for the health of myself and my family.  I'm thankful that Roger and I both have jobs.  I'm grateful we have a home and can afford to send our kids to college.  And I'm thankful for my two wonderful children who are studying hard to someday make a difference in this world. 

It's easy to get caught up in life's petty day-to-day problems and forget how good we really have it.  A day of thanksgiving makes you appreciate the things in life that really matter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

:)