I'm Thankful...for Thanksgiving!

So I know I'm a little behind on the Thanksgiving thing, but I did want to post what a nice vacation that was. As we get closer to Christmas and oftentimes find that Christmas overshadows this holiday, I thought it would be a nice refresher to remember this nice day. As I went into Gram's house, Pam and Steph were doing punch responsibilities. Pam for years has always helped with the punch. I wonder if she still knows how to make the kind Gram used to make. It is also nice to have Sas running Gram's kitchen and making sure that everything gets done. I know that Sas would make Gram proud with the management of this HUGE dinner! She does a great job. Lawrence did his turkey cutting job and actually tried a new method of cutting this year because he read it helped to keep it more moist. I only really care for turkey if I can snitch it, so of course I went and stole a piece after I took the picture. You have to be careful though that Lawrence isn't using the electric knife while you are snitching because I did get my hand swatted. Holly was here for Thanksgiving and set the table very beautifully. We actually had quite a crowd for Thanksgiving and the day after so it was a lot of fun to celebrate this year. As you can see the kids are getting fed up with waiting for the food (especially Adam!). They pretty much did in the olives before we started. Of course they were getting yelled at by all of the adults, so we ushered them downstairs for one of my favorite things to do at Thanksgiving.

Fussball! This was kind of cute because all of the little kids wanted to play. I felt it was kind of like an ushering in of the next generation. We had a little Beebomb (Jaden) Peyts (Me) Jays...(Holly...oh wait she never played!), Bruv (Adam who makes as many comments about others playing as his dad does-I'm sure it is a distraction tactic!...he says exactly what his dad says!). I tried to resurrect an old playing of the originals that I learned to play with (Bee and Jim on one side and me and Bruv on another...but I couldn't manage it) Andy and I spent the most time playing with the kids and it wasn't too bad, but it definitely was a goalie game!
So we finally got to sit down and eat...probably later than we ever have. The dinner was great and I didn't have to sit at the adult table this year and listen to all of the health problems of all of the older people! :-) I got to sit at the kid table and for the most part it was very enjoyable! My most favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is stuffing and jello! At our Thanksgiving, we have about 10 different kinds of jello. I really only like three specific ones, but I will try the new ones. The shot of the one below is my favorite. It is a lemon pudding with whipped cream and marshmellows and pineapple. It is great!

After everyone is finished eating it has been kind of funny for some people who eat too much to play "fat dog" on the couch. That is basically that you go and lay down on the couch and stick out your stomach and moan. Well in the past when Pam has done this, Steph, Sam, Adam, and Shelly would get on top of her. We started taking a photo. This year they reversed the order and Adam got the food all squished out of him...I think! It was pretty funny.

I have for the last couple of years wanted to make a pie for Thanksgiving because it was something that I had never tried before. I decided I would make a fresh apple pie with real apples and everything. I have always been a little intimidated because my grandma and my mom are such wonderfully awesome pie makers that I have'nt wanted to try, but anyway I bought seven different kinds of apples and I did a lot of reading about different ways to make a pie. I had a lot of fun making it. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I thought it was really good. I think it was the prettiest pie over there, but my mom still wins hands down on the best pie. You will see below two pictures of my pies and one of her cherry which is still my favorite! Kudos to Marie!

You can see a huge difference with her pie and mine. It just looks lighter and better. I guess maybe in another 20 years, I might be able to master them!