Thanksgiving 2010

For the last few years, Wes and I have hosted some sort of Thanksgiving dinner at our house. They haven't always been the most well-attended events (one year it was just me and Wes and another year it was just us and Wes' mom and brother), but we've always had fun. This year, we were supposed to have 12 people, but my mom got pneumonia and was unable to drive down with her boyfriend and my grandma, so we had 9 people at dinner including: me, Wes, Wes' mom, Wes' dad, Wes' brother, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, my second mom (Renee), and my fake sister (Renee's daughter, Rachel). 

For the last week or so, I've been busy planning this day. In particular, I wanted to find a table cloth, napkin rings, and something to add some interest to the table (like a table runner, a centerpiece, or something). This was my mission. And, I chose to accept it. 

After a lot of searching, I found a deep orange table cloth at Target, decided to use orange and silver 12 x 12 scrapbook paper for place mats, and created my own napkin rings out of beads and some wire. I think it turned out great.

Once the decor was chosen, I had to pick out the menu. Linda (Wes' mom) brought a scrumptious honey ham and made some ambrosia, while Renee (my second mom) brought multiple delectable pies for dessert. I started off the day with Brie en Croute, homemade individual spinach and artichoke dip cups, and chips with french onion dip.

After the appetizers, we had a feast for dinner. Specifically, we ate some ham, turkey, ambrosia, mac n' cheese, apple cider green beans (thanks to Meghan for making them), asparagus (again, thanks Meg!), mashed potatoes, vegan lasagna (courtesy of Renee), and sugar cranberries (thanks to Kristi's wonderful recipe).

 Before and after eating, we all played with G & V.

After dinner, we went outside to have some photos of everyone taken. Of course we got the typical group picture. But we also got a lot of pictures of me, Wes, Viv, and Gavin (taken by Rachel) for our holiday cards. I put a few of the family pics below, but you'll have to wait for our holiday cards to see my favs.

We ended the night with some pie. And Viv took full advantage of our willingness to give her whip cream.

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving. Can't wait 'til next year!