A Thanksgiving Update

I am so sad to report that I did not get my camera out for the 1st OFFICIAL HOLIDAY in our new home! We had a total of 20 people for Thanksgiving Dinner and it all came off with no hitches at all. I had never cooked a turkey before, so Sheldon and I decided to do a trial run on Wednesday in preparation for Thursday. (AND, we got a rip-roaring good deal on turkey number 2 only after we thought we'd gotten the best deal possible on turkey number one!) Someone should have mentioned to me that the turkey would only be about 2.5% of the actual Thanksgiving dinner budget.
I was responsible for the turkey(s), stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, 2 salads and 1 dessert as well as the fun pre and post treats. Turkey number 2, which became Wednesday's trial turkey which we chose to BBQ turned out SO GREAT! Thursday's turkey was brined (is that word able to be used as a verb?) for 16 hours before going into the oven. It came out juicy and oh-so-good. I used my friend Alicia Finch's Mom's rub which she sells along with brown sugar and smokey paprika. We also went down to Sage to get the best croutons for the stuffing we could find.
Sheldon's entire family came down from Spokane and my gang plus some extras came from around the valley.
Entertainment included 2 little darlings!
I also had little questions placed under each plate to start conversations after the plates were loaded. The questions were mostly about holiday memories. Each person also got a raffle ticket with and we did drawings throughout the day for giveaways (mostly leftovers from the craft fairs plus some food things for the guys). I also found these super cute plastic wishbones that looked incredibly real at the $1 store and tied a poem to them semi-written by me and a cute bow that matched the bow on the back of their chairs.
The garage was transformed and heated to be our Thanksgiving dining room. We borrowed 6 foot tables from Faith Tab and chairs, too, and I already owned a number of twin size sheets that I had purchased on sale that were used for the table linens. The color theme was sage, rust and tan and the center pieces were little wood crates with a plaid cloth napkin, indian corn, baby pumpkins and little candles in sage green votives.
Everyone had a grand time. After the dinner, some watched football, some watched the girls, others played card games and still others took naps.
Everyone was full in their tummies and their hearts. A good time was had by all, but boy, Sheldon and I were wiped out when the last of the gang left! As Sheldon's M.O. would suggest, we had to have it all cleaned up prior to heading to bed. :) Gotta love a CLEAN(ing) husband!

I hope all of you had a wonderful day spent with family and friends and remembering how much we all have to be thankful for! We are a blessed group for sure!