We were lucky enough not to have to travel this Thanksgiving. My brother, my sister, her husband, their two kids and two dogs all squished into a station wagon and drove from Maryland to have Thanksgiving with us. Thanks guys!
I'll share "Baking Day" pictures tomorrow. Today I'll focus on Thanksgiving Day at Mom and Mark's.
The snacks... oh, the snacks!! I think I could have eaten all of the cashews and
pistachios if I would have let myself. I couldn't even fit all the snacks into this picture.
Katie and I were so excited to play "Mall Madness"! We had this game when we were kids and it was easily a family favorite. We somehow lost track of the game over the years and my mom bought one off of
ebay. Thanks, Mom!! It's just as I remembered it. It has an automated voice that has the funniest way of saying the store's names. The game was set up in the
sunroom and during the course of the game almost everyone had turns playing.
Charlotte loved being banker.
Even though Kylee was sick with a fever, she still loved playing. I guess that's how you know a game is fun.
More games were going on in the living room. The men played cards. I'm sure they probably grunted and scratched too.
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Sometime around 11:00, I heard the sound of a child hitting the floor. I heard my mom call out to me and the sound of Charlotte crying. She was crying hard. Not a sound that a mother wants to hear.
This is what happens when a child falls, mouth first, onto the hardwood floor.
Her poor gums and lip were so purple and swollen. Her cheek was even a bit purple too. All I can say is that I was so thankful that her front teeth hadn't grown in yet. I'm sure they would have either broken or gone through her lip. She was so brave. Jon held her with an ice pack on her face while Mark helped me find a
CVS that was open and we got her Motrin and
Oragel to ease the pain. It wasn't long before she was playing and eating snacks again (very gingerly, though).
I'm glad to say that almost all evidence of her fall has now faded.
My brother is awesome. Uncle Chris played Mall Madness with the big kids twice! He is a very patient man.
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Now it's time for the MEAL!!
Yipee!!
My sister expertly applied butter to the rolls fresh from the oven.
Mmmmm....
The dining room table was gorgeous.... though you can't tell from Jon's picture. I put him in charge of pictures while I was helping to get dinner ready. He was apparently in a hurry while taking pictures.
Don't you love Jon's expression? He can't control himself. He sees a camera pointed in his direction and he's compelled to make a face.
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Time to eat!! Katie brought a turkey that she raised. It was delicious! Between the turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, asparagus, stuffing, gravy, rolls,
Watergate salad, ... I tell ya, it doesn't get any better then Mom's Thanksgiving dinner!
Mmmmmmm.......
The kids enjoyed their dinner too. The rolls were definitely the favorite. I think each kiddo had two rolls.
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It was a lot of fun and we all left with full tummies.
When we got back to our house, it was time to put the kids to bed (Charlotte stayed the night at Nana and Grandpa's). Uncle Chris read them a story before bed.
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I started missing my siblings the moment they drove away. It was a great holiday and I can't wait to see them again at Christmas.
Katie and Buford snuggled on the big couch. This was the first time we got to meet Buford. He is the sweetest puppy. Such a good boy too... at least while he's traveling, right, Kate?
Katie helped me so much! Here she is putting the chocolate coating on some buckeyes (recipe further down). 
I'm showing you this picture for two reasons. The first reason is that I think it's funny even though it's blurry. I was pretending to eat a buckeye... or did I really eat it, Katie? I can't remember. The second reason is that you can see just how messy my kitchen was while we were baking. Do you see the sink full of dishes? There are clean dishes lined up on the half wall. There are dishes and ingredients stacked up on the counter behind me. This is how I work, folks. 
We had leftover melted chocolate after we dipped our buckeyes so we coated some pretzel rods and Katie was in charge of putting sprinkles on them. She took her job very seriously and did a beautiful job. We ate these after dinner since we couldn't eat the Thanksgiving desserts. 
Aren't they beautiful? I love pretzels dipped in chocolate. This post is making me hungry. One of the hazards of blogging, I suppose. 
Devin and Jon worked on a puzzle for a bit. 
Buckeyes
It really is worth the time to make this cheesecake. It knocks pumpkin pie right out of the water!
The snacks... oh, the snacks!! I think I could have eaten all of the cashews and pistachios if I would have let myself. I couldn't even fit all the snacks into this picture.
Katie and I were so excited to play "Mall Madness"! We had this game when we were kids and it was easily a family favorite. We somehow lost track of the game over the years and my mom bought one off of ebay. Thanks, Mom!! It's just as I remembered it. It has an automated voice that has the funniest way of saying the store's names. The game was set up in the sunroom and during the course of the game almost everyone had turns playing. 
More games were going on in the living room. The men played cards. I'm sure they probably grunted and scratched too. 
Her poor gums and lip were so purple and swollen. Her cheek was even a bit purple too. All I can say is that I was so thankful that her front teeth hadn't grown in yet. I'm sure they would have either broken or gone through her lip. She was so brave. Jon held her with an ice pack on her face while Mark helped me find a CVS that was open and we got her Motrin and Oragel to ease the pain. It wasn't long before she was playing and eating snacks again (very gingerly, though). 
My brother is awesome. Uncle Chris played Mall Madness with the big kids twice! He is a very patient man. 
My sister expertly applied butter to the rolls fresh from the oven. Mmmmm....
The dining room table was gorgeous.... though you can't tell from Jon's picture. I put him in charge of pictures while I was helping to get dinner ready. He was apparently in a hurry while taking pictures.
Don't you love Jon's expression? He can't control himself. He sees a camera pointed in his direction and he's compelled to make a face.
Mmmmmmm.......
The kids enjoyed their dinner too. The rolls were definitely the favorite. I think each kiddo had two rolls. 
When we got back to our house, it was time to put the kids to bed (Charlotte stayed the night at Nana and Grandpa's). Uncle Chris read them a story before bed. 
