It’s Thanksgiving week, so I’m taking a few days off from sewing and exchanging them for cooking! :o)
This year we decided to split up our Thanksgiving Dinners and have them on Thursday and Friday because of our kids work schedules AND because I don’t have that much silverware and plates. (Although I found some pretty Thanksgiving paper plates I bought last year on sale and we used them.) Alba and Sara came over to help me on Wednesday to get as much done ahead of time as we could and they were SUCH great helpers. We put the leaf in the table, set the table, figured out what would go in what dish and labeled them. We made 2 corn casseroles, 2 apple cakes, 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies and 2 sweet potato soufflé’s. It was really great to head into Thanksgiving Day with that much already prepared! Friday’s dinner will be even easier!
Here are a few pictures I took of Alba and Sara making cookies, apple cake and corn casserole.
Oh, what a wonderful sense of accomplishment…Thank you SO MUCH Alba and Sara.
For today’s dinner, had our dear friends from Haiti over along with my mom and enjoyed our dinner very much! Bithar seemed to like the broccoli and cheese sauce the best and Samuel and Deborah liked the mashed potatoes and turkey.
Look how much Gaterah has grown since last Thanksgiving…She and her momma are just as beautiful as ever.
This was Thanksgiving at our house last year…
…and today…she’s walking and talking and so adorable!
I told the kids half way through dinner that I had a present for them and whoever cleaned up their plate first got their present. Well, that was all it took… they all had clean plates in no time.
I found these fun sticker books at Walmart and they were a hit… I got the Dinosaur one for Samuel, an Animal one for Deborah and a Princess one for Esther. There are pages and pages of “blank” animals, princesses and dinosaurs… then you have 250 to 300 stickers of eyes, tiara’s, mouths, wings, etc… and the kids get to decorate the faces. They seemed to like them.
Here are a few pictures of what I’m talking about…
Here they are opening up their books…
Gaterah got a little puppy dog…
So that was Thanksgiving Dinner #1. Tomorrow will be Dinner #2 with Edgar, Alba, Sara and our kids.
I hope your Thanksgiving was just as fun as ours was…
New Subject… When does the diet start??? :o) I am still full from lunch!
Who’s going shopping tomorrow and what are you looking for?
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a wonderful “Thanksgiving #1” you had, with your mom and your friends from Haiti! My Gaterah has really grown! I had just been thinking that, and then I scrolled down and you said the same thing, and showed last year’s picture for comparison!
Our Thanksgiving was very quiet. We (Ron and I) went out for noon dinner, to Harbor Buffet, which is mostly Asian, but they do serve some “American” things. It was all very nice, and the plate removal service was excellent, too. Tomorrow I’m going to cook a small ham with some “trimmings”, so well have some good leftovers for the weekend!
I feel like I’m coming down with a cold tonight, so I’m glad we were by ourselves–when we got home from dinner, I took a two hour nap!
Hope everyone else had a good day, too!
What a wonderful Thanksgiving #1 you had, Jeanne! I can see that the new layout of your kitchen works wonderfully when you have several “cooks” working in it! My goodness, Sarah looks so much older and grown up! I can’t believe that is her helping her mother!
And that sweet Gaterah is just a little doll, but a bigger doll than last year! It is amazing to see how fast children grow up before our very eyes!
We had a nice couple of days, but I’m ready for some downtime, if you know what I mean! We had our grandson Willie’s birthday party at our house Wednesday, which was his actual birthday, then we had just a small turkey dinner for my hubby and I yesterday, but then went to our daughter’s for dessert and making apple turkey’s, a tradition in our family. Making pies, brownies, a turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and other things takes just about all day, so I was glad to get out of the kitchen for dessert and see some different scenery! I think we all feel that after making a big meal!
Today, just…….. ahhhh! I’m going to try to get some leaves out of the way before the rain comes, but who knows when that will be? I want to change my dolls too, and get that out of the way before I start decorating the house for Christmas. I think I will wait a week, since Thanksgiving was so early this year. So no shopping today, you couldn’t pay me to go out!
Take care of that cold, Charlotte!!
Thanks, LInda–I’m trying!
I went to my sister’s house, where the guest of honor was our nearly 3 year old great-niece, Anna, who looks a lot like Rebecca did at that stage. She’s going to look like her mother, slender and athletic, and she’s growing out of cute and into pretty. My sister Linda timed dinner between Anna’s naptime and her bedtime so that we’d have the best of her energy and personality. My favorite moment was when she came downstairs wearing an adult-sized wide brimmed hat. She looked like a drawing from really cute wrapping paper.
I made butterhorn rolls, our family’s tradition, and Amish potato rolls, because when I made them as an experiment, it turned out that they were the traditional rolls for the families of Doug and Larry, my brothers-in-law. When I left my house, the kitchen was messy but not a disaster, as it has been in other years. On the whole, it was a personal best for me and I’m happy about it.
I’ll spend the day cleaning, which will feel good. It looks like a nice day. Yesterday was supposed to be nice too, but it was pretty much bleak and cloudy. On the way over, it looked like there was a fire in Denver, but it was out before we reached our destination. After the California fires, I think everyone is vigilant, and we need to be.
What a lovely Thanksgiving at your place. We didn’t take a single photo of the activities or feast this year. Was very nice at daughters with the grands, their other grandparents, aunt/uncle, and cousins. The turkey this year was a brined Costco one which was delicious. Our oldest grand who just turned 8 appears to be ready to join the adult table next year. Was picking his seat and trying various locations before dinner. 🙂 Think we need to add on an extension. Poured rain all the way home on the drive to Santa Rosa. No more lawn watering necessary. We’re happy. 🙂
Sounds like everyone had a nice turkey day. Onward to Black Friday, leftovers, or fresh for Jeanne, and decorating for the December holidays.
That was a wonderful way to start Thanksgiving tradition for that sweet family! They all looked like they loved being with you and the food and table looked so festive!
Gaterah is adorable and walking and talking already? So is she speaking English or a mix?
I wish I could have sent you some Lemon meringue pie…now that would be some wonderful technology!
Enjoy Thanksgiving #2
I have to make this fast because my computer has been acting up and I might not be able to get on for a couple of days while it is being repaired. UGH! Your two Thanksgiving dinners look like they were/will be a lot of fun. Yes, Gaterah has grown, but so has Sara. They both are lovely young ladies. I’m also curious, is Gaterah and her sibling being/will be bilingual?
I saw you post about looking at Caroline. Aha, now I know why you were selling dolls to thin out the collection. Mine is from 2013 and I got her in 2016 NRFB from a collector on ebay. If you want one with the light seafoam green eyes and lighter eyebrows that is the Classic version. I overwhelmingly prefer her to the BF ones. I would be delighted to give you my opinion on any one you find. I search for one with the fuller face like the PC girls have. Some have thinner wigs, but I lucked out with a real thick wigged girl even though I obviously couldn’t see that since her hair was in the hairnet.
Same thing with MG, some had thinner wigs and couldn’t stand. I picked a NRFB one of her and got a super thick wig and she stands beautifully.
I don’t think you’ll regret having her. Next to my PC Samantha and PC Felicity I wouldn’t want to ever part with her. I know what it is about those three… decal eyes.
Dear Jeanne, what a wonderful Thanksgiving (Part 1) you had. Thanks for sharing the photos. The children are adorable.
I look forward to seeing the Part 2 photos.
Thanks everyone,
I’m running a bit behind tonight, so I’ll just thank everyone for your sweet comments. We had such a nice time with Bithar and Jean and the kids… We always do!
I hope your Thanksgiving was just as memorable!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne