Together for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been a big deal in our household. We usually stay in town and invite a fun mix of family and friends with crowds reaching as many as 20 or more people.

This year we did something a little different. My goal was to spend a day truly connecting with immediate family. We are all so busy and live so far away that we rarely have a chance to be together - really together. So after much discussion - and even some regret over friends we'd miss - we decided to invite only family this year.

I meant to take a ton of photos, but as usual, I got so caught up in the whirlwind of preparing everything, talking, laughing and enjoying everyone's company that I forgot to take pics. So here is the single photo I took all day, a picture of the rose floral arrangement I made for our table:

My in-laws, my mother, my sister and her boyfriend all drove into town from different parts of the state to be with us. It was a perfect day of talking and laughing over great food including a 25 pound turkey my husband made in the Green Big Egg (a fancy, schmancy smoker) and we consumed three and a half pounds of butter - no lie!

And I have to say with some pride, this was the most organized I've been for any holiday.

I had a plan for every meal including breakfasts and lunches for the few days everyone was here. I even had many of our Thanksgiving feast dishes prepped ahead of time. It made such a difference in being able to really relax and spend time focused on our guests and the true blessing of having such a wonderful family!