Thanksgiving 2021

I used to menu plan and start cleaning and cooking, days in advance but I feel like we have this down to a science and no longer need the big prepping. I had the ingredients bought the week prior and it worked out great since we had to work on Wednesday. We moved dinner time to 3pm, so there was no big rush that morning, we got up and started cooking and even the kids pitched in...Blake made the green bean casserole and Tay made the cheesy potato bake. We actually got dinner done early and ready to eat by the time Diana & Danny walked in. I do need to remember to bake the desserts the day before, because cheesecake and buttermilk pie DO NOT like to be cooked on a lower rack, below the turkey...oops. The juicy turkey, all the fixins' and fresh baked rolls made up for the dark bottomed desserts..lol.

Billy said grace, we ate to our hearts content, thankful for our blessings. Aunt Sissy brought a bunch of scratchers for us to try our luck at. Turns out, we will have to focus on our blessings because none of us got lucky. We cleaned up the plates and Blake immediately cleared the table and broke out the Aggravation game. We brought up the 6 player version so we could all participate, it sure makes a difference having the extra people constantly plucking you off the board and sending you back home! The added "aggravation" sure gave us lots of memories of Mom and how upset she would get, she was out to get ya! And SO WAS DIANA!! She couldn't reach the board so she would point her finger with vigor and she directed us where to land her marble! She was more worried about taking us off than winning and getting herself to safety..lol! We were laughing and shouting and having the best time ever...it was the longest game of Aggravation ever. It took over 2 hours for Diana to bring in a win! The guys continued playing just to see who came in 2nd, 3rd, etc...Blake was a sore loser, coming in dead last..lol. 

The boys headed over to Aunt Susie's house with a turkey dinner delivery. She was happy to get the Thanksgiving meal without having to come over, possibly driving in the dark. It really was a blessed day to be thankful for.