Hosting Thanksgiving

I've officially reached adulthood by hosting my first Thanksgiving. My entire family came Wednesday evening and we ate a homecooked (by me, for the record) chili meal.

We spread out throughout the house and had 7 adults and 4 kids sleeping (somewhere). I think we had a person in just about every room - minus the bathroom thank goodness (although for the future, we do have big bathtubs...hmm....).

Thursday morning Matt and my brothers Jeb and Wade played basketball (the first time since 2008 Matt has been able to play on Thanksgiving morning when he tore his ACL and then a few months later we got a baby). We were very thankful he didn't tear his ACL, although brother Jeb may have ended up with a shoulder injury. Hopefully it heals well.

Men.

Anyway, I was thinking about running a 4 mile race Thanksgiving morning but I'm glad I didn't! We had a lot to do! The turkey got done a bit early, which we were thankful for, so we were able to everything else done and we were eating by about 1:30 pm.

Our guest list included my family of four, my parents, Matt's parents (who brought wonderful sweet potatoes and green bean casserole),older brother Jeb, Savanah and their kids Liberty and JD and my younger brother Wade (we were missing his wife who had basketball practice that day, what?!).

This was the first day we have ever let Hannah skip a nap and she did pretty well! She was in bed by 7pm without an arguement so that was pretty great too.

My dad and Wade left Thursday evening and my mom, and rest of the family spent the night again.

I had to work on Friday so Jeb, Savanah (his wife) and their two kids left sometime that day and Matt completely cleared out the garage, it looks great!

I got home from work Friday around 2 and mom and I went shopping because she needed some jeans and I needed a new pair of black dress pants. The mall was nuts! But we got some good deals on the jeans and pants.

Saturday, mom and I got up early and spent three hours cleaning out my basement! Yay!!!! That was only three years in the making. We donated a ton of stuff, organized, threw stuff away. Now I have an awesome space for kids to play that is safe! And my storage areas look great too. What a weight off my shoulders.

I am so grateful that moms are willing to do things like that!

Enough chatter, here are the pictures of our weekend....

What I love about this picture (other than all the rear ends) is they are all gathered around the baby monitor listening to Hannah and Liberty in bed. They spent about an hour talking before they finally fell asleep and they were cracking us up! We heard things about their birthdays, chicken, socks, princesses. Hilarious. We even heard Hannah tell Liberty to open her mouth!

The table.

Jeb and his daughter Liberty.

Matt and Wade. One thing you need to know about Wade. He doesn't make normal faces.

Olivia had a little attachment issues this weekend. She needed held (by me specifically) the entire weekend.

But holding her was worth it!

Uh oh, what do I do with a baby? (Also, not normal face, see?)

My parents being goofy. Aren't they cute?

I took this picture, those are my feet. This is where Olivia would lay if I couldn't pick her up because I was doing things like cooking and setting the table.

Crowded, but fun

Ama was the girls' personal bartender. Any time they wanted something to drink they would go running to Ama who would give them fun drinks like juice and tea unlike their mean parents who would give them milk or water.

Such cute, big girls.

Tea.

Hannah and Liberty for their Thanksgiving meal and Wade with all his friends.

So. much. food. More food for one meal than some kids get to eat in a week.



I don't know about my family, but I had a great time. We won't be able to host for much longer, as our family sizes grow, but I hope to do it again.

I will leave you with the passage from the Bible that Matt read as our Thanksgiving prayer:

Deuteronomy 8: 10-20

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.