Bekah's First Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was very special, mostly because it was Bekah's first Thanksgiving, and also because I got to host 17 of our family members at our own house for the big turkey dinner! This was because Zack was on call that Thursday and Friday and would not be able to leave town as usual and we had hoped that he would be able to stop in between his duties at the hospital and join us for some turkey. Sadly, that didn't actually happen, but we still had the most wonderful time with our fun family who we love so much!

As excited as I was to take on such a special tradition at our very own home, I was a bit nervous too, I wanted it all to be just right, so Sandy and Ed came down a few days early to help me out.

Here we are figuring out the table setting:

We had one table in the front room that sat 11:

While we were on china setting duty, Grandpa was on Bekah duty:

The table in the kitchen would seat 6, giving us a pretty comfy way to seat 17!

One of my favorite things about the whole weekend was, I got to use my china for the first time ever! It's just been hanging out in the boxes that they came in for our wedding, so 6 years later, it was about time to put them to use! Here is the water glass stemwear, the wine glass stemwear, the flatware, bread plate and dinner plate. The napkins were tied in rafia (thanks Amy!) and the cute little name cards were found by Grandma Lenore.

Here is a close up of the oh so cute gravy boat! My china has a silver trim with a "pearl" like trim around the silver.

I went to Hobby Lobby for the table decorations because everything was 80% off!

After the tables were set, I felt so much better. Now on to the turkey! It was a 22 pounder, so we had to handle this one with lots of care, can't let your turkey get warm while working on it before putting in the oven!

And yes, that is me, wearing a shower cap! I was in the middle of cleaning my fans when my mom called me into the kitchen to show me how to get all the fat out. And I am not ashamed to say, that working with the turkey was so much fun! I didn't mind all the umm . . . "fat extraction" : ) and then, the stuffing! Maybe it is the surgeon's wife in me coming out? : )

Even Bekah wanted to join in on the fun of stuffing the turkey : )

Grandpa Ed was a great big help too, showing us how to tie the turkey back up.

Now, I would say that the whole day went as well as I could hope for ( minus the fact that daddy couldn't make it home). The only other glich was Sir Charles' little hunt that he decided to go on Thanksgiving morning! I guess Charlie wanted to contribute to the affair and so, that morning, when I let him out to go potty, what did he come back with, but a DEAD RAT! Yes, my little weiner dog caught him his first rat on Thanksgiving Day! Minus the sheer disgust of that fact, I guess we ought to be proud of this little guy, that is what he is bread to do after all! And so, Grandpa quickly scooped up the rat, wrapped him in a garbage bag and to keep the animals away from it in the garage, put it in a corona box! Charlie got "excommunicated" to his crate before I gave him a mighty good bath and then Thanksgiving festivities were picked up once again!
Here he is, with his "kill":

Despite the Charlie debacle, we still had time to stuff the turkey AND watch the parade!

Here she is learning about Care Bears : ).

With the turkey in the oven, it was now time to get dressed! Once again, we put her smocked Thanksgiving dress on her, had to get our money's worth! Thanks Aunt Kath for her turkey friend : ).

The night before, I had pureed some ground turkey for her, so she could have a Thanksgiving Feast too! Here she is with her sweet potatoes, ground turkey, place card and everything.

Purred turkey is pretty much the grossest thing I have made her so far, but as long as I pair it with sweet potatoes, pears ( yuck!) or apples, she seems good with this extra protein I am giving her!

Bekah actually went down for a nap during the feast, which was both sad and nice. I wanted her around, but it gave me more of a chance to do my hostessing duties : ). Here is the table, wine bottles out, icecubes in glasses, all we need now is for everyone to grab their plates and .. .

say a blessing, read some bible verses and then, head over to the food table to load up!

If Zack had been their, the dessert table would not have stayed this way for long:

The food was yummy, but as it should be, the company was the best part. I just love hanging out with my family! How blessed we are to have family members that really are some of our favorite friends!
Sarah's boyfriend, Adam and Jeff:

Katherine, Rani and Rani's sister, Brittany:

Kath, Rani, Brittany, Me and Sarah

My cousin Ryan was such a big help in the kitchen, making the yummiest bread!

The Burkhart table, Nora, Steve, Adam and Sarah

The May/Frolow/Jones Table

Igor, Pam, Kath, Ryan, Jeff, Rani, Karl, Brittany, Katie, Mom and Dad

Once Bekah woke up, she gots lots of attention from her sweet family

Me and my super duper mommy!

I had the best time learning all things turkey and hostessing from you mom!

I just LOVE having you stay with us!

The girls in the family pic:

Pam, Kath, Me, Bekah, Mom, Rani, Nora and Sarah

Bekah got an early Christmas present from the Frolows, the Efl on the Shelf! I couldn't believe it when I opened it up because I had actually been wanting it for Bekah to use one day! It's the cutest little tradition to start with your kids!The very next day, once the kitchen was clean and the house was back in order, my parents helped me decorate for Christmas! With Zack being on call once again, it was so nice to have help! They are just the best and I love doing projects with them, we make a great team : ).

Here is Ed putting up our very first Christmas lights! Even though Zack was not around for this big occasion, everything was his idea ( the wreaths and garland and color of lights, we had picked it all out one day that Zack had off). Dad did the leg work that Zack just didn't have time for:

Thanks a million grandpa!

And here it is, a trim of lights around the roof, garland on the porth and wreaths under each light! And don't worry all you Christmas Vacation fans, we definately did a drum roll as dad turned on the lights! Then I looked at him and said, "Thanks dad, you taught me everything I know about exterior illumination!" : ) Teehee! Looking at our sweet house with Christmas lights on, that just had all of our loving family over the day before, with a darling baby inside sleeping, my parents by my side, just the thought of it made me want to cry.

I am so thankful for all of our blessing this year!

And to the biggest blessing of all, a healthy little girl that has shown Zack and I God's love unlike ever before, our little Bekah Bumblebee!