The feast and the festivities

In years past, Kaira and I have carefully planned out the minutia of our Thanksgiving day....right down to times that certain dishes will be prepared and put into the oven. In a house with only one oven and 6 dishes that we would prefer to serve hot, it's a necessity. But this year neither of us even brought up "the planning session". We just dove right in. She did one thing while I did another, she melted butter while I chopped onions, and so on until we arrived at a wonderfully timed, delicious Thanksgiving feast.

But not before the boys spent a little quality time with their iphones before departing to the Turkey Bowl. Whose big idea was it to work out a tradition that entails the men to leave and play a game and the women to stay home with all the cooking and all the kids. I'd like to have that fellow's name and number.


No matter. It's nothing french toast sticks for breakfast cannot heal.


Whilst we cooked, the girls played. There was plenty of fluffy pink to go around.


The pups "sniffed" (mmm...appetizing)


Mat did a little air guitar:


They colored and colored and colored. Three cheers for washable markers and grandpa's hopechest on a day when tablespace and counterspace are a hot commodity.


Kaira has earned a reputation for her treat making talents. (oh, sweet memories of hot wings and pecan bars) This year we were introduced to this:

Yes, it is fabulous. I mean it was fabulous. It didn't last long.

The boys returned (no knee injuries this year!) and Joel rolled up his sleeves and pitched right in: (heh heh...love you Joel. Thanks for driving 8 hours....heh heh...little jokie)


Mark opted for the potato station. (milk+boiling taters+butter+kitchenaid+someone to supervise the adding of black pepper+blue steel pose=love in a serving dish)

We gathered...we poured...we blessed...

we ate.
We did actually have more than turkey and pie.

Laney slept through the whole event. I could tell she was tired because she was kind enough to arch her back and shriek in my ear. Nap time.

We enjoyed leftovers after the fact...and yes, I do know (now) that that sweater is not flattering. bleh. (no, I am not pregnant...despite all visual evidence below)


Later that evening we joined the Allred/Field/Malquist/McKasson/Hufford family for pie and games. It was fun to catch up and see the babies and the not-so-baby-anymore. And of course I forgot I had my camera in my pocket....

The rest of the weekend was spent putting the tree up in between attempts to get new tires on Mark's car while he dove back into a round-the-clock work week. (glamorous!)

And an exciting outing to see the Springdale Christmas Parade:

(cute shoes and nice legs, sis!)
No parade is complete without a centerfold pose in the gutter:


And because I said I would, here's one for you, Joel.


One may wonder why no pictures of the parade. This is because if you've ever seen a firetruck, police car or mayor in a convertible, you've already seen that parade. But the kids had a good time and it's been awhile since I've experienced flashing blue lights without a sick feeling and 4 hours of traffic school.

Hooray for Thanksgiving!