Too busy to pull out the black beauty!

That's right, I barely took any pictures this Thanksgiving.

Ever since I got through the biggest meal I've ever prepared (for the most people I've ever fed) I've been kicking myself! For so many Thanksgivings I've been playing around or chatting it up with family while my grandma slaved away in the kitchen. And then the last three Thanksgivings, I've "attempted" helping my mother-in-law, but I really just had no idea what I was doing. Sure, I arranged cheese and crackers on the appetizer trays. Nothin' more. So selfish! (Sorry Grandma R and Mom Dooley, who I know read this, and big hugs to you both!)

My husband was the biggest help. My counselor and I talked about the stress of the meal the week before Thanksgiving, and all the pressure I was feeling. He gave me golden advice that applies to anyone!

Just pick whatever you can't handle out of the situation and give it over to someone else. The task, the details, the pressure, the stress. Just give it to someone who you know will come through for you!

Awesome advice. (I use it all the time for little things, like us backing out of the driveway, serpentine-ing through our neighbors' 3 sloppily-parked cars. Yuck. Now when Mitch is backing out, I just face forward and give all that stress to him. It works wonders!)

So, for Thanksgiving I gave him the turkey. We'd bought it before little Rexburg ran out of turkeys. It was 13.5 lbs of stress!! So, I made a dollar store run and bought all the tools we didn't have for a turkey, plus a tinfoil roasting pan, and that was it! The end of my stress! 

Mitch looked up a recipe, added things to my shopping list, I picked them up with the rest of the (tons of!) food, and we were ready to start baking. 

Luckily, I am so proud to say that, with the help of Mitch and both of our mothers, everything we attempted turned out!! 

Here's a quick list of what we made:

turkey (obviously)

stuffing (we all voted for Stove Top over homemade...works for me!)

homestyle mashed potatoes & gravy (I love my new mixer!!)

sweet potato casserole (no going back to marshmallows now!)

caramel-bottom rolls (as awesome as they sound!)

cranberry sauce

Ginger Ale + White grape juice

My good friend, Shelby and her husband Thane brought yummy stuff too!

green bean casserole

corn suffle

pumpkin pie

french silk pie

It was all so delicious! I am so glad to have the experience of having our own Thanksgiving, but we missed being with family!

In addition to Mitch, Nathan, myself and our friends Thane and Shelby, we had my sister Camille, her friend Kinsey, and our neighbors Ryan and Juanee (pronounced "Johnny"...it's her grandma's name). We were so happy to have so many friends and some family! Camille and Kinsey came from Provo, UT on Tuesday and left on Sunday. It was so fun to have a new place, big enough for two extra people for five days!

Here are some pictures :o)

These rolls are as delicious as they look!

Yummm....

Yummy mashed potatoes! We loved using the serving pieces from our good friend Billie Platt!

I love my china, and I never get to use it!

Happy Thanksgiving, only a week late!