A Truly Wonderful Thanksgiving

Mo and Lisa set straight away at freeing the turkey from the brine. They put together a nice rub and slathered the bird with spices, oils and butter. The oven was heated and the turkey landed safely at 11:20 am. The room immediately filled with the smells of thanksgiving. The meal was on. I can not take any credit for the meal as I was assigned to the children. Traci and Lisa methodically prepared the side dishes all day, each one adding its own fragrance to the over all olfactory print of our thanksgiving day.

Meanwhile the children swam. They started out with video and computer games, tv shows, and arguments but after Adam arrived they all wanted some pool time. Adam is Mo's nephew and Lana's son. Mo and Lana are friends of Lisa's from the Chandler area. The kids had splash fights and chased each other all around the pool. It was a definite change from Novembers in Illinois. The closest I can come to this is when we were at Uncle Bill's and Aunt Dawn's house and the kids took us out to swing over the creek on a rope. The creek was full of water but it wasn't heated.
The kids could have stayed in the pool all day long but the meal was getting closer to being ready to eat and we had to come inside.
The kids showered and cleaned up while the finishing touches were put on the meal. Everything was finally ready, 5:30 pm and we could sit down, say grace and partake in a feast built for the appetite of a fighting army. Only my appetite had suffered a major assault from an earlier attack called hummus and bread with cheese, beef and thyme.

When Lana arrived she brought with her some delightful hummus and flat breads topped with various things. One had colby cheese, another had a beef and onion mixture, and yet another had a mix of thyme sesame seeds and oil. These were tasty snacks and allowed themselves to easy eating. We all ate several of these not remembering the forty two pounds of food cooking in every appliance available in the kitchen. We ate and then ate a little more, then we got out the big meal
I thank God I have been given a stomach that is pliable to the needs of politeness. I had to eat a little of everything on the table. I even went to have second helpings on nearly everything. I was stuffed much like the bird had been earlier. I did get the honor of carving and serving the turkey. We had an interesting evening of foods, conversation and uno playing. On looking back this day I realize we have a great family and friends. Although we missed everyone during the holiday we made a new memory.