Happy Thanksgiving

We had our first Thanksgiving at home this year. Each year previously we have taken turns going to our parent's homes for Thanksgiving. This year we were scheduled to be with the Haigs in Boston, but we simply couldn't get there. Tim and Michael had school Wed and Tim had practice afterwards, so our Thanksgiving break was simply not long enough for the long trip to Boston. So we had to satisfy ourselves with a couple of Skype calls with them.

This meant that we were home for Thanksgiving, and since we wanted it to be special and because we LOVE Thanksgiving meals, we decided to cook ourselves up a feast. Here is a recap:

The decorations:
*Throughout the week we made a mobile showing the things we were thankful for. It was inspired by this Thankful Tree:


However, for those who have seen our table you know that it is not very big, so I was pretty sure with all the food on the table, there simply would not be room for a center piece. So instead we made it into a mobile from kitchen light.


*I was inspired by another Thanksgiving decoration I found online too:


Thanksgiving morning I started attempting to make some with the boys and Becca quickly joined us too. After quite a bit of frustration with the little ones, we continued the project just Michael and me. Here is our finished product:


OK, so they are not nearly as perfect as the ones from the inspiration picture, but I think they turned out super cute! And the kids could barely wait until after the meal to dig in and eat them.


The table setting:
We got our some fancy napkins and cups that really spiced up the table and were so much fun for the kiddos.



The menu:
*Turkey - I cheated a bit and cooked it the day before because this is something I've never made before and I wasn't sure how it would go. I believe it turned out very good!
*Green beans with almonds - the way we always do at Thanksgiving with the Haigs.
*Cranberry sauce - easy because Tim prefers the one from the can.
*Gravy - also a first for me since I made it from the turkey drippings.
*Mashed Potatoes - Tim style
*Stuffing - This was my great achievement for the meal I think. It turned out fabulous. Not only was it the first time I've made it from scratch, but I actually combined two recipes to try something brand new.


Dinner time!
We were so excited that the dinner could be even more special because Uncle Nate could come and join us so we could still spent Thanksgiving with family.