Thanksgiving Day

It's almost Christmas, but blogwise I'm still in November, and mindwise I'm still in Europe! (I loved our trip and am still thinking about it daily and will eventually post all my pictures and thoughts.) But, for today I will write about Thanksgiving.
I loved the whole day, and surprised myself and everyone by making a turkey. I thought we were having a Sidedish Dinner, but everyone suddenly became nostalgic and traditional, so I put Mike in charge of the turkey and covered my eyes while I told him what to do.
The Littles helped with the rolls, and had a great time chopping celery and onions the night before. Holly played with The Littles and helped with art projects and games. She also made a green bean casserole because she loves it. Jacob got to come home, so we were happy he was with us. He asked what his job was but already knew the answer. He's always in charge of picking up the Pumpkin Cheesecake. Jordan had to work all day, and we missed him. We told him not to ever work again on a holiday, but he told us he worked Thanksgiving so he wouldn't have to work Christmas. Mallory spent the early part of her day at her "Little Friend" Cody's house and then they both came back for dinner with us. Holly's "Little Friend," Brian also came over later in the day, along with his brother, Josh and his "Little Friend," Claudia. And when Jordan got off of work he and long time "Little Friend," Angela had dinner together here, too.
(They get so mad when I refer to their boyfriends and girlfriends as their, "Little Friends!" They always have to yell out, "Mom!" like I'm the most ridiculous person.hahaha They should know I'm just copying our mother.
Ever since Europe, I want three hour dinners. I keep telling everyone, every night,"We are eating Italian Style for three hours." This really means I get everyone for an hour, but it's working. Everyone is staying longer at the table and I'm not in such a rush to get the dishes done. (The missionaries came over the other night in the middle of dinner, and the one Elder was so kind and said, "Oh this looks so nice. I wish I had a family.) (I thought it was so sweet and knew he missed his.) On Thanksgiving I told everyone they had to stay for FIVE hours, but no one did. It didn't matter though, we had a great dinner and everyone was fun.
After dinner, The Magro's came over for dessert. They were nice enough to want to see our pictures from our trip. Mike set it up on the TV so we got to have a slideshow. I was amazed they wanted to see them all. Aracelia is always so nice and asks about everyone; the entire family, Mom, Dad, children, husbands, who lives where, careers, everything. She is genuinely interested and always has kind things to say about our family. They have a nice family, too and my kids have a good time with theirs. Amanda is in 6th grade and was very funny. Mal was happy to see Jordan. They are the same age, just a day apart.
We missed Roy and Sung Jin and their family, so we needed Greg and Sally, and were glad they were able to come over. It was a nice day, a long day, and a grateful day. (5:30 am to 11:30 pm--non stop!)
My favorite part about Thanksgiving was having everyone home and in and out while I was baking and listening to music. I love that everyone is happy becase it's a holiday, and how everyone comes in the kitchen to talk, taste everything, play games, and sing. We listened all morning to Andrea Bocelli's Incanto and Holly danced with The Littles while everyone sang, "Funiculi Funicula" at the top of their lungs. It wasn't exactly Thanksgiving music, but it was perfect since I'm really still in Europe and refusing to come entirely home.
I told Erin this, but I will write it too, since I am so grateful to have the cookbook she made for us. We are so lucky to have all of our family recipes, and it is the best reference book I own. I use it every week, but it is the best cookbook to have at Thanksgiving. I love reading the funny quotes and memories, and even this year I loved just seeing our old phone number, 943-7484 on one of the pages. It made me miss everyone when I read it, but it made me happy, too. It really was and is a great gift, Erin. Thank You again, for giving this to us.
Well, this year my family was so happy to have a turkey , but my life would be so much easier if my family ate like me. My favorite things to eat were the cinnamon and pecan rolls for breakfast and then the Potato Cheese Soup, with Mom's Dinner Rolls. That is all it takes to make me happy on Thanksgiving.
And maybe some mashed potatoes and gravy.
I just asked Holly what she thought was the best thing about Thanksgiving and her answer scared me. She said, "The Turkey!"