Oden Adventures

Thanksgiving 2012

Posted by Amy Evelyn Oden , Tuesday, December 11, 2012 1:05 PM

This year Patrick & I earned a new couple merit badge: We cooked & hosted Thanksgiving dinner (for Patrick's parents and brother) for the first time in our lives - and it went amazingly well!  For weeks leading up to the event I was scouring cookbooks and websites for turkey roasting tips, as well as asking pretty much every single person I talked to for advice on how not to ruin the family's Thanksgiving dinner.

And it not only all turned out wonderfully (whew!), it was actually really fun to do - and especially to do together!  And a lot less stressful than I anticipated as well!  So we hope to do this - wherever we may be - in years to come!

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes - made Tuesday!

Breakfast at 8:30...

...then, time to get the 19.5 lb bird in the oven to be ready by 2pm...

Not so sure about this...

...but I forged ahead and got it in the oven.  Then we got cleaned up to take some family photos.  This year, we are especially thankful, for obvious reasons (see: that cute girly in between us)!

Then, a few shots of Vianne (with the turkey puppet!).

She was a bit withholding with the smiles...

Then Uncle Jon came in!

I couldn't get her to look at me after that, but these were cute anyway!

Then Granma came in!

And Grandpa!  And our thankful party was assembled.

Hangin' with Uncle Jon

The turkey is done!  And couldn't have turned out better, I don't think!

Patrick was in charge of carving...

...while I took charge of the gravy.  I was a bit nervous because I know it can get lumpy...but it had no lumps and even tasted like gravy (a Thanksgiving miracle!).

The table!  One of the most fun parts of the meal for me was getting to use so many wedding gifts, in both the preparing & the serving!

Everything was delicious!

For dessert, Mom O. made four amazing selections, including these two gorgeous pies!

Then some gifts from Granma

The day after Thanksgiving, we drove up to Lake Arrowhead for an overnighter - Vianne's first time up on the mountain!

Fleece buddies!

Uncle Jon is teaching Vianne that if you pull the branch, you spill the hanging bird bath water all over whoever's underneath!

1 Response to "Thanksgiving 2012"

Marie Says:

It was truly an amazing Thanksgiving dinner, so scrumptious, every bite wonderful! And, that it was our first Thanksgiving with our first grandbaby inspired joy and unstoppable thanks giving and praise. It was in fact for me a little touch of heaven! And Vianne made us all happy with her smiles and laughter and expressions of pure delight! From beginning to end Thanksgiving 2012 proved to be an all-time absolute best favorite Thanksgiving. Patrick and Amy worked together as a team, as though they'd hosted fifteen Thanksgivings. And the entire day was a grand success which I will always treasure in my heart!

December 12, 2012 at 3:24 PM