Friday, November 23, 2018

A Family Thanksgiving

Since Jill and the kids go to Colorado to join the other grandparents and aunts and cousins for Thanksgiving, we asked to be included in my sister Laurie's family Thanksgiving.

With three adult kids and their spouses and seven grandchildren, Laurie and Arnold have a houseful. Tom, Jake, and I blended right in. 

Laurie had three tables, all beautifully set.





 Arnold carved the turkey.
 There were lots of wonderful side dishes. I took a little bit of everything. 
 There are no photos of all of us eating, but while I wasn't looking all that turkey disappeared. Fortunately there was another, smaller turkey for left overs. Laurie's sons and son-in-law did all of the dishes and Ben took care all of the leftovers. They were wonderful. 

Then the guys retired to the sun room to watch football and nap. 


 The girls, and Tom, who likes this better than football, retired to the shop for a wreath making workshop. 

 I finally got a photo of our host, Laurie, there on the right, with two of her granddaughters.
 Daughter-in-law Ericka is there on the right, across from her daughter. 
 Katie and her daughters were really into their wreath making. 
Tom was my assistant, and I appreciated his help. Here's our wreath. I put the bow on after we got it home. 
 Then we all came back together for pie, and other homemade desserts. 


We had a dark, rainy drive home, but it was worth it to have such a warm, loving, and fun family Thanksgiving. Thank you, Laurie and Arnold, for allowing us to be a part of it, and for all of the work you put into making this good day happen.  

16 comments:

  1. I had Thanksgiving lunch for my family and a few friends - only about 11 of us, with a catered 22 lb turkey (perfectly cooked) and all its fixings and I was SO stressed even though I used styrofoam plates and didn't do much more than put out tongs and spoons. Your family's Thanksgiving with wreath making and beautiful table settings take my breath away!

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  2. It was great having Linda, Tom, and Jake here for Thanksgiving Everyone contributed. Lots of laughs and sharing. A wonderful day.


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  3. I just love the addition of a family activity as part of the day. Your wreath is gorgeous.

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  4. Your Thanksgiving sounds (and looks) like it was near perfect. So glad you made it home safely after all that rain!

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  5. Your sister sets some awfully nice tables!!
    Your wreath is lovely.
    The picture of the sprawling, dozing men amuses me.
    I guess that's what eating too much will do to a person :)

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  6. What a beautiful post.
    Spending quality time together, wonderful plate settings, gratitude....

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  7. Happy Thanksgiving! What a wonderful day with family. I think I'd prefer the wreath making to watching football as well (even though I'm a big sports fan). A little activity and moving about feels good after a big meal.

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  8. how fun homemade food and wreath making...we were home alone this year...

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  9. She really put on a spread and judging by the zonked out body count, a very successful one. Nice there was an activity for those not excited about football or sleeping.

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  10. What a beautiful Thanksgiving! Family makes it special. I love the pictures of the guys all zoned out in front of football after the meal - looks like our house! And the wreath making activity is such a fun thing to do to round out the day.

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  11. My goodness that is a big bunch to have for Thanksgiving Dinner! The tables are beautiful! Sounds like a good time was had by all!
    As for your question, The church ladies make turkeys at the church, in their homes and in those portable roasters! They cooked 48 turkeys and served 995 people.
    Here is a link to the newspaper article.
    http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/news/4533470-day-thankscommunity-thanksgiving-meal-serves-995

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  12. Wow, Laurie and Arnold did a great job of hosting turkey day. The tables all looked wonderful and I love the wreath-making idea.

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  13. What a special Thanksgiving day. The set tables are simply beautiful! Linda, you have such a wonderful family. I just love you all!

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  14. Your sister and brother in law are as amazing as you. What a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. Ummm... sorry to say, you've been hit by that spammer mahmoud fawzy too.

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