Our Thanksgiving week was so relaxing and such a nice break from the busyness of everyday life. Greg’s parents rented a BEAUTIFUL rustic house on Possum Kingdom Lake, flew in from California, and invited us and my immediate family to come out and enjoy some time together over the holiday.
Greg and I both had to work on Monday and Tuesday, so Tuesday night, we packed up, grabbed Moose, and headed out the door to “The Chocolate Moose Lodge”. Time there consisted of sleeping in late, preparing for the big Thanksgiving meal, watching movies, playing guitar by the fire, hiking around the lake, playing lots of Texas Hold ‘Em (don’t ever play my sister in-law by the way… She’ll rob you blind!), playing Frisbee golf, and celebrating Meredith’s 23rd Birthday. It was just what we needed.
I have officially taken on the role of baking all of the pies for the second year in a row. I’ve always loved helping my mom make the pies, because I’ve always loved how beautiful they are when they are done, and I love taking pride in that art form! So anyways, I took on the task of making four pies: Pumpkin, Pecan, Buttermilk, and Apple. Let me just say, I ascertained a new level of pie making this year. They were picture perfect, not to mention absolutely beautiful. Ok, I’m done bragging. But seriously, see for yourself. Obviously, I wasn’t in the kitchen alone. I had tons of advice and help from two expert bakers/chefs: Nancy and my mom. Boy do I have a lot to live up to!
I tried a new recipe for the buttermilk pie this year. I used Paula Deen’s “Olivia’s Buttermilk Pie” Recipe. I was a little nervous at first because it’s a crustless pie, but it turned out wonderful and was the first pie to completely disappear.
Another favorite of the week is Pioneer Woman’s Pecan Pie. All I have to say about this one is YUM.
A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, Meredith and I schemed and decided that everyone should dress up in traditional Thanksgiving wear for our Thanksgiving meal. Yes, I do mean pilgrims and Indians. No, don’t ask me what we were thinking. Anyways, the girls were good sports, and we even got a visit by a 6 ft. turkey! My father-in-law had the brilliant idea to not show up as a pilgrim or Indian, but to show up as the turkey himself! It was a surprise to us all, and definitely the highlight of the meal. It was ridiculously hard to take anything he said seriously when he had tail-feathers, a beak, and talons!
The day after Thanksgiving, all the kids decided to go out and play some Frisbee golf. Disclaimer: I am terrible at Frisbee golf. So bad, that I cannot even fake it and play on the wii. It’s bad. But, we all went out and braved the wind and actually had a lot of fun. I even had fun letting everyone laugh at my expense at how terrible I am. No lie. We played the 9-hole course forwards and then backwards, and I must say, I did slightly improve by the end of it. And I did have fun so I would definitely go on another Frisbee golf outing if the occasion arose.
That day was also Meredith’s birthday. We had fun celebrating her dinner that night with a gourmet meal of grilled shrimp with a honey cilantro dipping sauce, a delicious vegetable medley, and last but not least, filet mignon. Oh my goodness. Delicious. It was so sweet to be able to be around to celebrate the life of Meredith. She is the kind of girl that everyone wants to be around because she’s fun and her laughter and goofiness draw others to her. I always love getting to spend time with her.
This is our second annual Foster/Roberts Thanksgiving, where our families have gotten together to do Thanksgiving. Last year, we went to Austin and stayed on the river that fed into Lake Travis. Anyways, that trip was such a huge success that we decided to start a little tradition!
My family normally just invites my grandmother over, so combining with the Fosters brings so much more fun and joy to the holidays, not to mention, our families get along great! Greg and I have a hypothesis. We like to believe that if we had grown up in the same town, our families probably would have attended the same huge Baptist church, and since Meredith and I are the same age, our family paths would have crossed often and would therefore have been really good friends. I envision our mom’s being a part of the same bunko/keeno group. It’s that real of a hypothesis. Anyways, I say this often, but I am SO thankful for all my in-laws and that our families get along SO well. It is such a HUGE HUGE HUGE blessing as I know that in-laws can cause rifts between families. We got lucky!
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