Thankgivings and 50th anniversary dinner

We had a bunch of fun gatherings on five consecutive days including Thanksgiving Day. There were four separate Thanksgiving dinners, our daughter's birthday party (there will be another blog post for that), AND my mother-in-law's foster parents' 50th wedding anniversary dinner. We have many many people in our lives that we are grateful for.

Thanksgiving #1 was with my mother-in-law's roommate's family. My husband and the girls went to it while I was at Hypnobabies class (my husband came to the first half-hour of class). We have no photos of it, but he said there were about 60 people, and our children had a blast playing with all of the other children and the toys set up in the basement.

Thanksgiving #2, my mom's house -- So nice and relaxing with just Mom, my brother, and my little family. I made the same side dish for this and Thanksgiving #3 -- Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Apple and Kale -- and I am in love with it. The food my mom made tasted really good, too, of course.

The spiced sweet potatoes bake while all the other ingredients cook, and then you combine everything in a bowl. It's amazing how much the kale shrinks down. First it overfilled the pan, then it was small like in the top right photo.

 

 

Thanksgiving #3, my dad's house -- Dad, step-mom, 6 siblings including me, three spouses (the husbands of the pregnant mamas), five kids, two friends, and three dogs. It was the first Thanksgiving since my step-mom's mom passed away.

Everyone but the friends Megan and Tyler.

 

 

Yummy pumpkin soup!

 

My step-sister (same age as me) is expecting her first baby the end of April, my sister's second is due the beginning of April, and my third is due Jan. 2nd! We're going to take another picture together on Christmas if I'm still pregnant.

 

50th wedding anniversary dinner:

L was very mellow because she had just woken up from a short nap.

It was neat to watch my mother-in-law, especially during the slideshow of the couple's life together. They are wonderful examples of living the gospel.

 

Thanksgiving #4, my father-in-law's house -- We didn't get a group shot, but everyone was there including "Uncle" Jack and my brother-in-law's new girlfriend. The one missing person was my other brother-in-law, who had to work.  I think my husband took this first picture.