Thanksgiving

We hosted Troy's siblings at our house for Thanksgiving. His parents couldn't join us until the next day because they had an assignment to serve the prisoners at the jail in Salt Lake City on Thanksgiving day.

Hosting the entire meal made us feel like true adults. Having four children should make us pretty official when it comes to adulthood, but something about pulling that meal together without any of our parents helping with the turkey felt like a rite of passage.

While the turkey was baking, we took a walk on our favorite trail overlooking the ocean.

It did everyone good to run around on the steep hills.

Uncle Todd sure is adored by all those nephews.

We kept teasing Troy on our walk because he was so nervous about getting home in enough time to baste the turkey. When we did arrive home, we found that the turkey had cooked surprisingly fast and we all started running around like crazy to put together all the side dishes for the feast.

We have a small kitchen so counter space was limited and we were a little on top of each other as we each tackled parts of the meal. But I actually kind of loved that we were gathered so closely as we talked and laughed and prepared. And what do you know, that turkey turned out wonderfully and so did the stuffing, mashed potatoes, cheesy green beans and homemade rolls. 

Yes, we officially pulled off our first Thanksgiving feast without any help from the more seasoned cooks in our families. After eating much more than we should have, we went around and listed the things we were grateful for.

We felt especially grateful to be gathered as siblings and cousins. And the weekend-long party was just beginning.