Thanksgiving snuck up on us this year! We have been planning to host for my family since we moved in to our new home, but we of course waited until the last minute to actually plan and organize everything!
We did a lot of prep the night before, but I learned that with a Thanksgiving meal, most of the action happens right before we sit down to say our Thanks. So, we went to the 9 a.m. church service and enjoyed the morning.
Christ Community always displays this beautiful bounty.
After service, the kids went up to play some tunes on the piano. When your Grandpa is the pastor at your church, you have a lot of pull!
"Cheese," says Jude!
After service, Nate and I ran home to put the turkey in the oven.
Trial and error: that's what your first Thanksgiving is all about! Lesson #1-Have an oven test run before your Thanksgiving bird depends on it's functioning properly.
We couldn't figure out how to set the timer on the oven so I fell back on my good ole' Mom to come over and turn the oven on so that Nate and I could head back over to Bruce and Maggie's for our first of two giant Thanksgiving meals.
The girls patiently waited to serve themselves their meals!
Lesson #2-Don't allow children to eat three helpings of chocolate pudding after they have just filled their bellies with a Thanksgiving meal.
To spare you all from the details, I will just tell you that Abby now has an aversion to chocolate pudding and Grandma and Grandpa were forced to throw out their white sitting chair!
After we left the VanDusseldorp Family Thanksgiving, we went home to put the finishing touches on the house.
Nate and I purchased new dishes from IKEA for such events.
We created a long table in the middle of the living room. It required that we rearrange some furniture, but it actually worked out really well and translated nicely into a nice large space for our Christmas tree and party!
I was pleased with the table.
And the centerpiece of Ball Jars and votive candles.
LESSON #3-Plan ahead when cooking a predominately baked meal in a very, very tiny oven.
I hadn't realized beforehand that our oven was so small. I had never cooked a meal for 12 people in such a small space. In fact, we had to take a casserole over to Dan and Julie's so that it we could bake it as well! (Thank you to our neighbors!)
Nate did a great job carving 23 lbs. of turkey!
The spread was too large and we had to spill it over onto a card table!
A plateful...or plates full!
I borrowed family silverware! This was my Great-Grandmother's silver.
LESSON #4-Hold the lid on the gravy shaker tightly...or it will surely explode all over you!
LESSON #5-Take more photographs! I have lots of photos of food and place settings, but none of my family which makes me sad.
LESSON #6-Spend more time on the meaning of Thanksgiving. Regrettably, we didn't talk to the girls much about the meaning and importance of Thanksgiving. I think there are valuable lessons within the holiday and we missed the opportunity.
Despite a few hiccups and slight regrets (to my own fault) we had a great Thanksgiving. Nate and I have wanted, for so long to have the space and comfort of our own home to be able to host holidays and we really enjoyed it!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
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