Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! (As we do every year). We got to host this year though, which made it extra special for us. We were really excited to have my parents and the Weavers here with us. Jeremy exclaimed it was "the best Thanksgiving ever!" It was pretty great. My parents arrived the Monday before Thanksgiving and we did a little shopping and mostly just hung around the house. Amy and her family came Wednesday and the pie making began! We made 8 pies this year, and there were 15 of us. I generally think a 2:1 person:pie ratio is a good rule of thumb at Thanksgiving, and it worked out great! We had enough to last us a few days and they were soooo delicious. We made two pumpkin, pecan, triple berry, strawberry rhubarb, lemon cream, chocolate cream, and raspberry cream. The lemon and chocolate were new recipes I found this year and I was really happy with the way they turned out! The chocolate was super rich and it could only be eaten in small pieces but it was so incredibly satisfying. I'd been dreaming about a good rich chocolate cream pie for months and it totally delivered. Amy's strawberry rhubarb also really hit the spot with me this year. Mmm-mmm.

I didn't take very many pictures this year, since I was focused on other things, but at least I got a few (actually Jeremy got most of them). Here are the pies laid out Thursday night:

Thursday we cooked and cooked all day again and enjoyed a delicious feast! We decided to do two turkeys this year, and it worked out really nicely. Both were super moist and delicious. We also had stuffing, gravy, rolls, mashed potatoes, green beans with caramelized onions & almonds, sweet potato casserole, Brussels sprouts with bacon, two cranberry sauces, a green salad, and a fruit salad. YUM! The leftovers always seem to disappear too quickly, but we were able to enjoy them for a couple days after.

Here's the table set and ready. We moved our table into our empty dining room to make it seem a little more special. :) It was great to all sit together and fun to use our dining room for the first time!

Mmmm new recipe for green beans and salad and both were delish!

Some of the spread. I think the rolls were on the table along with a couple other smaller things.

My delicious plate!

Hooray!

We also had some amazing weather that week! (And have continued to have it). The sun was shining beautifully on Wednesday and Thursday which made it really nice for the kids to be able to play outside a lot. We took most everyone on a little hike through our woods in the back and the boys all had fun throwing rocks in the creek. I'm not sure what it is about throwing rocks in water, but all little boys seem to love it!

Friday was supposed to rain, but luckily it held off until Saturday, so we were able to take everyone to the Cincinnati Nature Center which is only about 10 minutes from our house. We did a nice 2 mile hike through the woods and then headed back home for some much-anticipated turkey/roll sandwiches. That night we watched a movie on the projector, which is always a hit.

Even though the trees are bare now, it's still pretty. It's fun seeing the beautiful Nature Center through

 the different seasons.

Saturday was drizzly all day, but the kids stayed pretty occupied with legos, games, and books. That night, we left Seth and Brenna in charge of the kids and the adults went out to dinner! It was pretty awesome, I must say. Jeremy and I are looking forward to our kids being able to babysit...in another 6 years or so. :)

The Weavers left after church on Sunday and my parents stayed until Tuesday morning. It was great to have everyone here! We feel lucky to be in a house that can accommodate that many people pretty easily. We had been so focused on finishing up our projects in time for Thanksgiving and getting everything ready that it has taken us awhile to get in the Christmas mode, but we are finally there and really excited for Christmas so soon! I love this time of year.