Thanksgiving at our house

 I got to host Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year. My parents, my brother and sister and a neighbor/friend family came to eat with us.

 I actually got to use the formal china. I pulled all the dishes out a few days before Thanksgiving to get them washed and ready for the event and my kids were shocked that they had never seen them before. I told them they were my Grandma's and I remember eating many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners on these dishes. They are a lovely green with gold rims and details so I knew we would need some new tablecloths. They would not go with the red one I usually use for special dinners.  Plus we needed to have two tables for all our guests.  So White table cloths were purchased as well as some gold placemats that I planned to us as a centerpiece.  When you don't hold formal dinners very often those things aren't just in the cabinet waiting for use.  But I think the table looked nice when all was done.

 Carving the turkey is always a fun chore.

 Molly can't wait for dinner. She already claimed her seat at the kid's table.

 Sophia just looking cute.

 Sam and Julie watching a movie. I think it was Sword in the Stone.

 Ian and Henry were of course on the computer playing Terreria. Any chance they get they play that game. All I hear from them is how difficult this or that "boss" is to kill.  My parents came with a puzzle to work on.

 We had quite a feast. Way more food than we could really eat or should eat. It sure tasted wonderful. And we had the same feast for several more days afterward.

 The family that joined us has two teen age kids and after dinner all the kids went out to jump on the tramp. Burn off those calories because there was still pie and apple crisp to come!

It was fun to host Thanksgiving dinner. I made a very tasty turkey and even learned how to brine it. It worked wonderfully and everyone ate and talked and enjoyed the day.

The very next day. My kids couldn't wait to get out the Christmas boxes and put up the tree. And to truly kick off the season we watched the movie Elf too.  Thanksgiving really has become just a kickoff to the Christmas Season.