Thanksgiving 2010

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year! Kevin's parents came down for a nice four day visit. It was great to see them it had been a year and a half since we had seen them last! We enjoyed taking them sightseeing through our SoCal city including the historic down town and nearby vineyards. Like us, they fell in love with our wonderful city! Mom and I worked together on the side dishes for the dinner the day before while Kevin and his Dad prepared the turkey and the brine for an over night "brine bath". Wednesday night we took them out to PF Changs as a belated birthday dinner for Don who just celebrated a birthday a few weeks prior. They LOVE PF Changs but don't have one in Lacy, WA so it was a real treat for them to go there. Unfortunately Kate had classes up until late Wednesday afternoon and decided to avoid the day before Thanksgiving traffic and just drive down Thanksgiving morning early. She arrived around noon. As is our tradition Kevin BBQe'd the bird on our weber grill which I love since I don't have double ovens. It frees up my oven to reheat all the side dishes made the day before. Besides making the pumpkin cake (new recipe this year),mashed potatoes and gravy, Moms and my work was done...so we enjoyed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, sitting around the patio table soaking up the beautiful fall day and playing games with the kids. We played several rounds of Apples to Apples which is a fun card game. We deemed Grandma Jean (whom I call Mom) the Apples to Apples champion as she won every game! Here are some pictures of my table complete with the new flat ware that my Dad and Polly had delivered to us as an early Christmas gift two days before Thanksgiving! The gold chargers, rustic looking turkeys and pumpkin candle holders are new this year from Cost Plus World market.

                                                       Below are some fun family pics from the day.

Here is Kevin with his fabulous brined and BBQ'd turkey! Moist, full of flavor and yummy!

 Kate was so excited for a home cooked meal! Her normal college cuisine includes a lean cuisine, mac n cheese from a box or a drive through the Taco Bell drive through!

                                         The Joy Family together again...what a blessing!

Kevin's parents left first thing this morning (the day after Thanksgiving) to catch their plane back to WA. Kate only gets to stay for today and she leaves too in the morning as she has to be to work tomorrow afternoon. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving!