Hosting Thanksgiving

We intended to spend Thanksgiving in Spokane this year. Our plans changed when we learned that my mom has breast cancer. The doctor operated to remove the cancer on Tuesday, November 23. Being away from my mom during this time was unfathomable. We cancelled our WA trip. My sister Jill dropped everything and flew in from MA to be here too. One perk of this cancer news is that all of my siblings were able to be together for Thanksgiving which was special! 

My kind mom tried to suggest that she would be up for hosting Thanksgiving dinner 48 hours post-surgery. I shut her down and volunteered to have everyone over at our new house. 

I had so much help with the food! I didn't even have to make the turkey! (Although, that didn't stop me from getting my free turkey at Winco after spending over $100 in groceries.) My brother Jeff smoked brisket which was incredible. Apparently brisket is popular because he had to go to several different stores to find some. We all appreciated his sacrifice to make this! I think he said he was up checking on the meat 4x throughout the night. Can brisket become a new tradition? 

I made: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies, Pumpkin Bread, Deviled Eggs, Green Beans, Mac and Cheese, and Mashed potatoes. If you're looking for a fatty, but spectacular mashed potato recipe, try this one: Unhealthy Potatoes. I think cooking the potatoes in chicken broth makes a difference. 

Chris took on the turkey! He even did a practice turkey earlier in the week. It paid off-- the turkey was very moist. Joel was in charge of drinks and he went all out! The drinks took up an entire table. The homemade strawberry lemondae was divine. Strawberry Lemonade Recipe. (Minus the basill) Jill made sweet potatoes, a Thanksgiving classic that the Dennings don't always have. Lindsey made so much food! Her pies were scrumptous! Lemon typically isn't my thing, but after eating Lindsey's lemon pie, my mind has been changed. Recipe Here. Mentioning every dish that we had would be impossible. 

It was truly a feast. We had oodles of leftovers! My siblings were teasing me because I instantly started making shepherd pie casseroles with all the remaining food. (The Dittos taught me that.) Jessica even came over and decorated the tables for me!  We had an abundance of flowers, due to lots of well wishes for my mom. My siblings assisted so much and I couldn't have done it without them! I'm a newbie at hosting Thanksgiving, and found myself frantically texting my mom questions like: "Do you heat up cranberry sauce?" Even with so much help, I was very worn out by the end of the day. I have a new appreciation for everyone who hosts Thanksgiving! 

In the past, my mom has had us do some type of service on Thanksgiving. I wanted to make sure that happened this year. With the help of everyone, we were able to make Afghan refugee kits. We put together 30 kits. Some were cleaning kits which included: all-purpose cleaner, disinfectant wipes, sponges, etc. Some of the other kits we made were paper-goods kits which included: toilet paper, paper towels, ziplocks, etc. We donated the items to Lifting Hands International. 

Something else that comes with hosting is entertaining. I looked into various holiday games. We ended up playing a "Price is Right Thanksgiving" version. Apparently, I made it too hard. We played "Price is Right" rules, and nobody could go over the total price. Everyone did, but Chris was within a couple of dollars. Uno, and Thanksgiving Charades were popular with the kids. It was also wonderful for my kids to discover that they still do have a trampoline. Thank you Simon and Esther for actally wanting to jump on it. My parent's did a craft with the children and made turkeys out of apples, marshmallows, and gumballs. The turkeys turned out cute! 

After the surgery, we learned that my mom's cancer is more advanced than the doctor expected. I was grateful to be in UT when we got this news. Thanksgiving was a nice distraction.

I have so much to be grateful for. It was touching to listen to everyone share what they're thankful for this year. I talked about how blessed I feel that we moved. I love living so close to family and it helps that our house is beautiful. Obviously, we're all extremely grateful for my mom and that her cancer was found early-on. Someone at the dinner table brought up how thankful they are that COVID and politics haven't broken our family apart. Amen to that! Now that I have my first time hosting Thanksgiving under my belt, bring on more! I don't know the next time that all of us will be together for Thanksgiving, so I will look back on this year fondly.