I’m Thankful for Thanksgiving

How many pictures is too many for one blog post? I’m sure there is an amount you shouldn’t exceed, but I’m positive I will exceed that number in this particular post. We were invited for Thanksgiving to my Uncle Rob’s. This is the best invitation to get. Highly coveted. Rob and his wife Mary are fabulous cooks, wonderful hosts and have a beautiful new addition to their home; a lovely kitchen/living area perfect for large crowds. The lighting in this new addition is amazing. It was hard to take a bad picture, so forgive the over abundance of photos. I just couldn’t narrow it down.

I often feel that Thanksgiving gets the shaft. No sooner has the last “trick-or-treat” been shouted, and the last bowl of Halloween candy emptied, that stores begin decorating for Christmas, the radio stations start to play Christmas music and Thanksgiving seems to get lost in the shuffle. It shouldn’t. Thanksgiving is a beautiful holiday. My mom says it’s her least favorite because Thanksgiving requires you to slave away for hours in the kitchen cooking all the food. It then get’s devoured in a shake, and you slave away in the kitchen for even more hours afterward cleaning everything up. I can see her point, but that aside, Thanksgiving is the time to pause and think about your blessings more than usual, to enjoy time with family and eat delicious food. What could be bad about that?

My mom and dad being thousands of miles away notwithstanding, we did have a lovely Thanksgiving. The food was absolutely delectable, and the company…perfect. We spent the day basking in the love of family and good eats. We were thankful. Look and see….

Here’s the happy chef, Uncle Rob and his lovely daughter Mary Kate. Uncle Rob loves to cook with garlic. We had a garlic turkey with garlic mashed potatoes AND an apple cider basted turkey with apple cider gravy. We had choices.

One of the main highlights of the day was seeing my cousin Paul again after his two year LDS mission to Florida. He looked amazing. He gave me a hug so big and tight I was off my feet. I love Paul. He has the best sense of humor and he’s a great guy. Although he likes LeBron James, so we’ll have to work on that. Right Paul?

The day was filled with cousins. Here are my lovely cousins Mary Kate, Sarah, Rebecca and Melanie; some of the best gals I know.

My whole family, (minus mom and dad who did make an appearance of sorts) were invited to Robs. My brother Eric was recruited as a turkey carver and took his job very seriously.

After my sister-in-law Emily gave a beautiful prayer and blessing on the food, the eating commenced. There was a long line at the buffet, but there was plenty to go around. None of the Johnsons are shy when preparing food. They make enough to feed an army, because usually they are feeding an army.

Check out this meal! I can’t decide what I liked the best. I’m leaning toward the stuffing. Thanksgiving is the one day of the year that I wish my stomach had more capacity.

The littles were given their own small Thanksgiving corner and table. They thought this was very cool. Even Mary Kate tried to get in on the action…

 

 

….although she and my cousin Kristen (and Jenny) have graduated to the grown-up table.

Jeffrey would have starved if not for Aunt Rosie’s famous rolls, he had at least 12 of them. He used his fork though. Good boy.

Lydia and her cat liked the rolls too.

After dinner we Skyped with my Mom and Dad in New Zealand. I think they enjoyed being able to talk to everyone. Of course they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in New Zealand, but the CES director Brother Bell (pictured on the computer) and some of the institute staff threw my parents a ‘Sausage Sizzle’ which is New Zealand speak for Barbeque. I’m sure, aside from missing family, my mom preferred that over having to cook and clean all day.

Here the grandkids are gathered around to give a Thanksgiving ‘shout out’ to Elder and Sister Stauffer in New Zealand. I just love modern technology, in a Kip Dynamite kind of way.

After Skyping…dessert. This pumpkin roll was my contribution. I make it every year. I love all the walnuts. I didn’t eat much, being too full from dinner, but I made enough to save some for later.

We had a lovely, lovely day. In my opinion, there is nothing better than spending time with family, and I can’t think of a thing I’d rather do on a day of Thanksgiving. Thanks Uncle Rob and Aunt Mary (and everyone else who contributed in anyway to this lovely day), it was delightful. With my Mom and Dad being away I wasn’t sure how great it was going to be, but it turned out well. (We did miss you so much though Mom and Dad) We missed you too Laurie! (My sister-in-law had to work on Thanksgiving)

And since this post isn’t long enough yet…a few parting shots before I quit…my favorites…

My beautiful niece Emily and Jonathan are best buds.

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The Three Stooges!

My cousin Melanie is a kid magnet. She loves them all with a big heart, and they love her back. She also gives incredible back rubs. (Thanks Mels!)

Two of my amazing and gorgeous aunts, Rosie and Mary. I love these ladies to death! They have been such positive influences in my life, more than they will every know. I look up to them and love them dearly.

Last, but most certainly not least, my basketball spinning husband! (I was just a tiny bit worried that the basketball would spin off his finger and shatter that china cabinet behind him, but he assured me he had that ball under total control)

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving. I hope you know how grateful I am for all of you! We missed all family members who weren’t here to celebrate with us, and we send our love.

Today we are enjoying some ‘Day After Thanksgiving’ fun, including Black Friday shopping and snowmobiling with Mike’s family. More to come on that.

P.S. Thanks to Mike for figuring out a better format for my blog. Now I can post big horizontal pictures too!