Thanksgiving

I don't have a single picture of this one.  This year was a little different than usual.  For some reason, the Smith Christmas was filled with drama.  That's so not like our family, but in the end all was well.  We had it the Wednesday before like we always do.  Normally we have it in the Inter Stake Center, but it was getting A/C (yeah!) so we had it outside at the park nearby. The weather was nice for us so it worked out well.

The days previous to that we had had a girl stay with us for a few days who was having problems at home.  That's a whole nother story, but because of that, we were a little late for dinner.  Funny story.  I had gone to my Mom's to decorate her house for Christmas so I was gone most of that day.  I called home to ask the kids to peel the potatoes I needed to take to dinner.  When I got home, they had been chopping them and the biggest pot I have was nearly full plus there was still a huge pile of peeled potatoes on the table.  I just couldn't figure this out!  I always to a 10 lb bag and it fits perfectly into my pot.  Finally a comment was made to clear up my confusion.  They had peeled ALL the potatoes.  35 lbs!!  Oh my.  I guess I wasn't clear about just doing one of the bags I had gotten. We cooked what was in the pot and left the rest for our dinner the next day.   Since we were late to dinner, they hardly even got eaten.  Good thing my kids love potatoes!!

The next morning we got up bright and early for the Turkey Trot.  After, we came home and got right on making dinner.  We had given our turkey to the boy scouts to cook in a pit the night before so that was already done.  Whew!  Now it was just the sides.  We cooked the rest of the potatoes, but only used about a third of them and ended up throwing the rest away.  Good thing they were only 88 cents a bag!  I was so tired by the time we got everything ready.  The Williams family was joining us again and it was about time for their arrival.  Jana called and said they would be a little late... Nap time!  I got a whopping 20 min to lay in my bed and take a break.  Mom, in the meantime, was handling things in the kitchen.  When Glade went to carve the turkey, it was still totally raw!  Oh no.. 20 people and no turkey.  We had a ham, but that was it.  Luckily it was just enough and now we all had room for dessert!

After dinner, I got right on going through my ads for late night shopping.  The others gathered for a game in the living room.  I felt bad I didn't participate, but Black Friday (Thursday) shopping is kinda a big deal.  Everyone parted ways about 7:30, including me heading out for my first shopping destination.  I'm not in love with the way shopping has turned out, kinda rushes my Thanksgiving dinner a little.