Turkey Times

Got a bit of a late start so in place of our THANKS and GIVING trees this year (cute idea from Chocolate on My Cranium) we opted for a family Thankful Tree instead (idea credit to Shawni.)

It was fun and enlightening and the perfect Family Night activity.

Sort of in new territory having Thanksgiving out of the country, we decided to invite a few Aussie families over from school and share the love. It was awesome. They were so honored and pleased about it and took even more pictures than I did.

The amount of food I was responsible for this year was a bit daunting, but I ended up really enjoying having a whole day to cook, cook, cook, while D and Summer cleaned, set up and acquired some fantastic napkin folding skills. (He's such a host at heart - I love it.)

No one had ever seen such a big bird come out of the oven (thank you Costco!) and one gal even tried her hand at the most American thing she could think of and brought a delicious pecan pie. It was an entirely delightful evening. Friendships were made, food was devoured, laughter and thanks shared, even a few tears were shed. We thought it was as awesome as Thanksgiving away from family could possibly be.

Kathryn contributed a huge Guinness Pie among other things - needless to say, lots of leftovers, which is of course, the best part!   Tied with Darren's annual Turkey Frame Soup. :)

Good fun. Great friends. Full tummies. VERY thankful for so much this year. Can't wait to do it all again in 2012 (when I'm absolutely adding this fantastic relish tray turkey I saw my friend, Ashley, post on FB.)