Our Big Party went off so well! We all had a great time. Here is a picture of the family after we had ate dinner. Unfortunately our friends had already left when we thought of taking this picture. So add 4 more happy smiling faces.
From this shot, you can see the Poolton's and their family. We had such a great time. Let me fill you in on the details.
We were expecting Ryan's parents, Uncle Paul and Granny on Friday, as well as my sister Pam and her family on Friday. The Hewlett's made it here fine, but we got a sad call that Mr. Matthew was sick and that they were not going to be able to come on Friday and may not make it at all. Needless to say, we were all pretty upset about this. Especially since we had all been looking forward to seeing each other for a while, and my sister Pam had been a big help in all the planning of the party. So we all prayed and hoped that "Scooter", or Matthew as he is known to most, would make it. Those prayers were answered because on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock they were on their way to the big party.
Then for the next health crisis. My father had had surgery 9 days before the party and was doing great. However, on the morning of the party was having some problems. Again came the prayers, and again they were answered. My parents made it! I was so happy everyone was going to be here for the party!
Now, I have to say that without my most wonderful mother in law I would not have pulled this off. I would probably be still working on the potatoes in the kitchen. I am so fortunate to have a mother in law who is so wonderful, caring and loving. She helped me so much and made everything go smoothly. I guess you would say she is a veteran, as she has been planning and hosting this big gala events for many years. I guess I am in training and she is my trainer. Thanks So much for all your help! You are awesome and I love you very much!
I had made some of the dishes on the Thursday before the party, as I had to work on the Friday. We worked on the potatoes and turkeys on the Friday after I got home from work.
We did two different turkeys. One was brined which was very interesting and very yummy. This brining mix I bought from Williams Sonoma, and it was very flavorful. Our other turkey, was Tom's Turkey. He took control over this one as he brought his deep fryer and made deep fried turkey which was so moist and tasty. The deep fried turkey is not as fattening as it sounds. It only deep fries the skin and it cooks the turkey in like an hour! Supper duuper fast. This event did get a lot of attention, as you can see from the photo of all the guys hanging out outside.
There was good conversation I am sure around that sizzling turkey. All the world's problems were solved I am sure! Inside there was equally lots of laughter and conversation. Children's laughter, and a baby cooing. Emily tried her hand at her first babysitting job as she offered to be the babysitter of the 3 boys; Matthew, J.J., and Will. She tried her best but found it to be overwhelming as we did not have any toys for them to play with. She printed of pictures for them to color and tried her best to entertain. I was proud of her for her first babysitting attempt. It will only get easier as time goes on.
My menu was a big hit. I will say that the show stoppers were both from Martha Stewart. I was thinking of sending her a letter to tell her, and get on her show, but I am doubtful that I would be so lucky. These were the Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Apples, and the Chocolate Pecan Pie. I will post both of those recipes for you all. If you can believe it, almost all the meat was gone! I guess we were a hungry bunch.
The best part of the day was when we all sat down at the table as a family. Everyone together giving thanks for the company that we were sharing. It was so nice to have our complete families together to celebrate. My father in law gave a beautiful grace that allowed us all to reflect upon how fortunate we are in our lives and to be grateful for the gifts we have been given in our lives.
I am definitely doing this every year. However, I do have one sad announcement to make. It looks like next year, Thanksgiving weekend, will be my weekend to work. So we will have to pick another weekend to do it on. Don't worry, we will do it! It is now a tradition!
So after dessert, we did the holiday family photo as you see at the beginning of the post. Then we did the annual lighting of our house! We herded everyone outside to the sidewalk. Ryan and I worked the switches of the lights. I got the crowd rilled up by getting them to sing a Christmas Carol - Jingle Bells and then they all counted down for the lighting of the lights. On the count of 1, Ryan and I hit the switches and on came the lights. This year without and power outage like we had last year. It was so wonderful. I am sure the neighbours where like,"what is with those Canadian neighbours?It is thanksgiving weekend, and they are all outside in 60 degree weather singing Jingle Bells at 9:30 at night!!! " 
We then set up all the beds for everyone to have their long winter's nap, as we had extra people staying over! It was great! Everyone in the same house! We all found a spot to sleep and I slept like a log on the couch.
The next day, as people started to leave, I must admit I was very sad. These weekends do go too fast! I couldn't believe all the preparation was over and everything was gone in a flash. I wish we could have a whole week together. Maybe that is an idea!! We will have to see.
We finished the weekend off with a special treat. On Sunday night, Ryan's parents, Granny and Ryan and I went to Martina McBride's Joy of Christmas concert. It was fabulous. A perfect way to end our holiday weekend together.
A note from your hosts:
Ryan and I both had a wonderful weekend. We want to thank everyone for travelling to our party and for every one's help. We are so happy that you are all our family! We love you all very much. Can't wait to see you all soon. P.S. Think of dates for the next party!
I also made seating cards for everyone, here is a picture of these. I made them out of white Crayola molding clay. Painted them and then applied them with white craft glue to seating cards. I made extra and I plan to use the extras as wine charms for my guests, so hopefully people will be able to tell whose wine glass is whose. Here is a picture of the place setting and one of the seating cards.
