THANKSGIVING! A Little Early...

Here's Mr. Turkey -- its early Sunday afternoon.... Fresh from the farm, well, from the farm, to the freezer and back out again. As it did not come with a plastic bag or a sticker we're not quite sure how much it weighed. I believe it was probably around 20lbs?

Cleaning those puppies out is not necessarily my favorite thing. Especially when you can see the spots on the turkey where they pulled the feathers out a few days before.

And now turkey is done and the green bean casserole is going in. I have to remember next year to triple this one as the double dish that I made went like lightning.
Turkey is done and we're all quite happy. We can actually keep him in the same place we cooked him, unlike last year when we had to cook turkey in one place, pies in another and sweet potatos on the stove top in my apartment/hotel.

Jodi's kitchen is awesome for buffet lines so we just put stuff around in the kitchen to have everyone come through.

We actually had 14 all together - Tammie took the first picture and then another friend of Flora's, Andrea, came a little later. I also had 3 of the stinters who were there with Campus come as I figured it would be a great time for some of them to connect. All three stinters had only been there for 3 weeks tops.

Everyone LOVED dinner. It actually turned out great again this year. They all loved the fact that they got to see a turkey whole - they've actually never seen one whole. Thought that was hilarious, but it was great to see their faces when they saw it.

Apple and pumpkin pies! Thanks to Tammie! It was so nice not to have to do everything again this year - I so so very much appreciated the help! Hajni also made two different Hungarian desserts.

Complimentary back rubs by Flora and Andrea!
So wonderful!

ILDI! It was so sweet to see her! She gave me the biggest hug and even cried... I don't know why she would think I'm so special but for some reason she does :) She was hugging me and then she whispered "Mommy".... its actually the name she gave me from the first year because she was sick and she was going to go out to a party and I gave her a lecture about how she needed to go home and go to bed... I guess that was kind of mommy-like....