23 for Thanksgiving

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. We had invited 21 people for dinner. On the day of Thanksgiving, we were told that two of our guests would not be able to attend. That brought our headcount to 19 guests and our family of four. We were providing a 20 lb. turkey, two 3 lb. turkey breasts, 10 lbs. of mashed potatoes, 4 cups of gravy and all the drinks. (Hey you need A LOT of food when you are having 23 for dinner!)

Our guests were bringing the rest of the sides. They brought stuffing, corn, coleslaw, yams, green bean casserole, buns, salad, pies, cookies and a pumpkin roll. Everything was delicious! We brined our turkey for the third year in a row and it was the best turkey we ever had! Now, the boys don't like any of these delicious dishes. So what did they eat on Thanksgiving Day? Pancakes! I know, I know. They are unbelievable, but I didn't want to get into a great big screaming fight on a holiday.

After dinner, SJ decided that we were going to participate in a Corn Hole Tournament. He made up the brackets and let everyone know when their team was up to compete. It was very fun (even though my husband and I were out in the first round) and it got everyone to participate. It gets dark around 5:30 at our house, so my husband rigged up a temporary flood light to give the playing area some light. I told SJ to have each game only go to 10 (usually it is 21), so we wouldn't be playing this tournament all night. SJ did a great job of notifying everyone when it was their turn to play. Some of the participants were wearing towards the end, but no one usually says no to SJ.

 

While the tournament was going on, the others who weren't playing watched football in our living room or visited with each other in our family room. When the tournament was over (our two nephews won), the teenage boys played some basketball with our boys. It was very nice of them to spend some time with our young boys.

Our guest stayed fairly late, except for the few that had to work the next day. The boys stayed up too, so I was hoping that they would sleep in. They didn't, but what else in new. It was such a nice evening! I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!