We arrived at mom and Pennie's house shortly before 11am on Thanksgiving Day. Pennie had already prepared much of the meal, so I quickly got to work!
The first thing I needed to do was to get some snacks on the table and the
TRADITIONAL jellyroll that I used to make all the time. However, it has been a LONG time since I baked anything, much less a jellyroll! Nonetheless, mom special ordered one. This one is filled with huckleberry preserves. Doesn't my momma look beautiful in her green suit? She sure enjoyed the meat slices, miniature wheat bread loaves, veggies and dip!
And don't forget the
TRADITIONAL yummy old lady heads!
The next
TRADITIONAL task at hand was to get the dang wassail going! (medieval drink of the english, made with pineapple/apple/orange juice with cloves and cinnamon. I added the cranberries and orange slices because it's so appealing to the eyes and pallet!)
...and the coolest thing of all is that it was made in our oval roaster...we've had it since I can remember.
Usually, I play the piano while everyone else does all the work, but this year, I got to do the cooking too. So, the
MUSICAL TRADITION continued as Chi played some blues on his guitar. Chi has been Ed's friend and roomate since he came here from Japan 2 1/2 years ago. This is probably the last time we get to see him as he is moving back in December. Hopefully he will be up to see us. If not, goodbye dear friend.
Another
TRADITION included dressing up and/or patiently waiting for dinner to get done!
The time finally arrived and Megs started trimming the turkey. While she did that, I got together the rest of our yummies. Here are the fixings. We enjoyed the
TRADITIONAL dishes. I carefully placed them on the 2 hot plates we've had and used ever since I can remember...the cool blue round rock thingy and the wire fish thingy. lol
Strange how the simplest things can jar so many forgotten memories, isn't it?
So here is the hot stuff (excluding the stuffing and the sweetpotatoes). Megs is still trimming, trimming, trimming.
And the cold stuff...
and the eaters...
while I dished up...
Yummy food, wonderful visits and a full belly made this
TRADITIONAL Thanksgiving dinner a great time. One of the best I've had in a while. Love you who was with is and miss and love you family who was not.
Next on the agenda...CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! WOOHOO!
Any way, we drove and drove and just wanted to see some wildlife. There wasn't much snow, hardly any traffic and about 3 pickups carrying Christmas Trees. We went all the way to Ten Sleep. The pass was 9666FT elevation. On the way back, we saw these creatures...
And don't forget the TRADITIONAL yummy old lady heads!
...and the coolest thing of all is that it was made in our oval roaster...we've had it since I can remember.
Another TRADITION included dressing up and/or patiently waiting for dinner to get done!
Strange how the simplest things can jar so many forgotten memories, isn't it?
And the cold stuff...
and the eaters...
while I dished up...
Yummy food, wonderful visits and a full belly made this TRADITIONAL Thanksgiving dinner a great time. One of the best I've had in a while. Love you who was with is and miss and love you family who was not. 
TT didn't care,
Tonight I got a full body massage by candlelight...with extra on the shoulders and feet....lemongrass lotion from head to toe, relaxing music...mmmmm
The choir sang gloriously...
Medley of the Armed Forces combined...
9 schools, 180 students, concert experience........priceless.
Five hours later, there was one row left and these rows split and stacked by the back steps of the house.
Scott leveled the driveway off and built new steps to the house, I piled the rocks to outline the lawn. (Yes, we still need to build a railing and fix the existing deck).
The place is starting to shape up a bit.
It's a whole lot better than when we first got bought the place!
