A Waites Thanksgiving

We celebrated our Thanksgiving a week early.  Dad has been out of town making the rounds at horse shows and was back for a couple of days.  So, we had our Thanksgiving dinner tonight.  I should start by saying that Thanksgiving was probably Mimi's favorite holiday.  Mimi was my grandmother that passed away last year with cancer.  She was absolutely the BEST cook in the whole world and loved cooking for us!  She always, ALWAYS handled the cooking for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.  Last year, John and I were in South Dakota for Thanksgiving, and the Waites' didn't really get together.  So, this was our first Thanksgiving together without her.  As tempting as it was to celebrate at a restaurant, we knew she'd be frowning down on us for not having the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  So, I hosted at our house and cooked the turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes and dessert for the kiddos.  Mom, Lisa and Kristi cooked everything else and it was absolutely perfect!  Everything was delicious, of course not quite as good as Mimi's, but it was made with a lot of love and in a way all for her.  The hardest part of the whole day was smelling the turkey through the house and not hearing her in the kitchen.  We miss her dearly.

Here are some pictures from our Feast:

My Assistant Basting the Turkey

No Butcher's String... No Problem (Yes, those are paperclips that worked perfectly. Feel free to use my brilliant idea when cooking your own turkey.)

Brayson's Ready for Hudson to Get a Little Bigger

Mom and Her "Magic Touch"

Do I Look Proud of My First Turkey or What?!

I Talked Kristi into a Little "Practice"

Lisa's "Sweet Potato" Class

Blaire's "Guitar Hero" Class

Goofing Around

Good Food, Good Stories

Speaking of Good Food... (This is hilarious!)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!  And I'll bet Mimi is super proud of us!