Thanksgiving Weekend with more Bucks

Happy Turkey Day!

Spending a wonderful weekend with little cousin Noah and his parents,

Mark and Ashley Buckwalter

Ted got so hot with the oven going all afternoon, stirring the potatoes, slicing the turkey, etc. that he had to go put on this "shirt" if you can call it that. He joked about his fancy attire for the big dinner, big day.

Notice the purple box with red-feathered turkey...that is our new tradition (see below)

Disclaimer: I have tried to put these photos in 3 times and they are turning themselves sideways! I don't have time to keep trying...if anyone has had this problem (in My Pictures file, they are facing the right way) and knows any secrets to successful loading, please let me know.

Thanksgiving day at the park with Nebraska's Buckwalters

Us and Ashley and Mark

Us at the parade in downtown Fort Worth, Sundance Square

We ADORE these two!! And they adore each other 99% of the time.

Cousin Noah Buckwalter (we have a cousin Noah Machan, close in age, also).

Kids at the park

This year we were blessed with VISITORS for Thanksgiving! Ted's younger brother, Mark, and his wife Ashley, and 9 month-old son, Noah. They drove down from Nebraska and we had a wonderful time. In the morning, Ted, neighbor (and adopted big brother to Nick) 11 year old Caleb, and friends from England who are now neighbors, the Drinkwater boys (Dad + 2 sons), accompanied Ted to our church's annual Turkey Bowl at 8:00am. The rest of us ate crepes for breakfast, lounged around, and watched a bit of the Macy's Day Parade in NYC. In the afternoon, the weather was so mild that we walked to the park and played while the turkey roasted. Mark tried to beam Caleb and our kids with a nerf football while they ran in and around the park's structures. They were cracking up. Little Noah stayed in the swings quite happily.

That night, our dinner was DELUXE! My near and dear neighbor (and fellow Utah gal) gave me some great tips that day on non-StoveTop Stuffing...the real deal with celery, pecans or walnuts (of which I have plenty-we love nuts for snacks and baking), onion, thyme (an excellent spice I am loving lately) and Pepperidge Farm herbed bread crumbs. Oh, and a bit of chicken stock. We stuffed some in the turkey (first time at long last!) and some in a bowl to cook in the oven. Also, she advised us to turn the turkey over and cook it top-side down so that the juices would run into the turkey's meaty chest. Oh, boy we had the very best turkey and stuffing (plus this is our 5-6th year of making mashed potatoes and we have it down nicely) ever! I was so proud (as I'm not the world's best nor near best chef) and pleased to have created such a delectable dinner. The only downside, and it was a downer, was that I didn't make any pies from scratch and the ones we bought were not too tasty. Rats! Next year, it will be pecan and apple, our favorites. The kids prefer an ice cream pie, which we made the week before. Cheesecake is another favorite and we had a little bit of chocolate chip cheesecake leftover from a friends' Pie Night that we finished while waiting for the 24 pound turkey I bought. I didn't realize that that is a BIG ole' turkey!

The next day, the girls, Ashley, Maddie and I, set out for the great deals of Black Friday. I bought most of our family's Christmas presents and we had a fun time together. We came home and ate fabulous leftovers, then got ready to go to downtown Fort Worth, Sundance Square, for the huge Day after Thanksgiving Parade, Welcome Christmas, Tree Lighting...etc. We had reserved seating with chairs which was deluxe and watched a lengthy, fun parade that evening; it ended with the Motorcycling Elvi of Houston, which absolutely made Ted and Mark's night. The wigs and sideburns were exaggerated, the wheelies, the one-piece suits--all rocked the night.

NEW TRADITION: The kids decorated a cereal box with turkeys and we kept a small notepad on the table with it and filled with thoughts of gratitude all month long so that we could then read them around the Thanksgiving dinner table. Some wrote pensively, others (mostly Nick) wrote matter-of-factly, and then there were Ted's humorous, random items for which he is grateful. The kids put in probably about 40 each, which was fun and lasted much longer than I thought it would. We passed the box around and each of us took some out and read them; then we tried to guess who wrote them. Nick was thankful for games, sports, dogs, pillows, sleeping bags,

Maddie was thankful for the good things of life: good people, good memories, good times, and for music and family and friends. I listed things like: kids who adore each other, husband who does dishes, family prayers, the faith that shows in our kids' actions and words, our home, our families, etc. Ted didn't realize we were filling the box up all month (he might have been reading the paper when we talked about this) and so he threw a bunch in real quick of which I only remember the serious one about his "lovely wife" :)

One bonus of having a brother here, was that Ted was highly motivated to put Christmas lights on the house (another first for us! we always put them on the trees and bushes, even outlining the yard). They had fun joking around and reminiscing a bit all weekend. Ted has a fun relationship with all his brothers in particular and they talk a lot of smack. Which they enjoy! Even I do, as I know who The Wookie is, Roberto the Italian, the Venezuelan girls who lived with Ma Buck, Cards, and other characters who are now part of the family folklore. These and the fact that the brothers all call each other, "Steve," makes for a lot of laughs, even tears (of laughter) at times.