thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was great as always. We wanted to make it extra special since my parents were leaving for England a couple of days later. The food was really easy due to some awesome delegation on my part (haha) and all the help of my sisters, sisters-in-law and my parents (my dad's "thing" is mashed potatoes and gravy). On Thanksgiving morning, several of my family members ran in the Mesa Turkey Trot. I was pretty proud of myself for running almost the whole thing with David (who pushed the boys in our stroller). My nephew, Penn, got 3rd place in the 10K for his age group. He's a stud.

I made this flower arrangement (via Oh Joy!) using sugar cones, green beans, carrots, popcorn and a bunch of flowers from Trader Joe's. It was really simple and looked beautiful. I think I even liked mine better than the inspiration photo, which is always fun...

We ate dinner on the back patio and had one enormous long table for the married adults (I have a couple of "adult" nieces and nephews who aren't married yet and they got stuck at the teenager table) and then several small tables for the younger kids. I think it all turned out nice and the weather was beautiful. My parents backyard at the time of year is so lush and green.

I made a raspberry ice cream pie (a huge hit with Fritz) and a coconut cream tart (which, in my haste, did not "set" but still tasted delicious). Leone's key lime pie is my other favorite and Darin's derby pie is also delicious (I only got the last crumb because it was gone so fast).

Leone's cranberry relish (with ginger and cinnamon) is my other favorite.

And here is William being super cute. I wish I had taken more pictures of people but it is what it is. I am really thankful for my family. There are a lot of us (which sometimes makes the decibel level very loud) but I feel very grateful to have such a large support system. I am related to a group of good, kind people and I'm thankful for that every day.