A lovely turkey day

I was so glad that we made it home in time to spend Thanksgiving weekend back home with Grant. It was perfect timing too, as we had a couple of days to prepare for the big meal and then were able to enjoy the long weekend together!

We had dinner planned with the Finlaysons and several single Marines from church who didn't have anywhere else to spend the holiday. We were going to eat out on our balcony, but as you can see from the photo below, the rain kind of spoiled those plans, so Brea stepped up and offered to host at their place (which accommodates a bigger group better than our house). We hung out in the morning and Rowan rode his Vespa for the first time while I made roll dough and got ready for dinner. He still requires constant supervision and a close hand to catch him if he falls, but he did pretty well on it (and seemed to enjoy himself)!

We divided up the essential Thanksgiving dishes and I volunteered to make sweet potatoes (the Ruth's Chris recipe-so good, but taste more like dessert than dinner :), green beans with carmelized onions and toasted almonds, rolls, and 3 pies (cherry pineapple with crumb topping, pumpkin, and key lime). I really don't like pie, so decided I would just make Grant's favorites!

The tables looked perfect...just the beachy Thanksgiving look we were going for. We went searching for driftwood the day before and then TJ drilled holes in the top for the tea lights. We also collected shells for the place cards. So cute!

Rowan's first Thanksgiving place setting! I don't know if it was all the people or the fact that he was just in an exceptionally good mood, but he was so talkative and active during and after dinner. It was adorable! He had never really made real talking noises before, but he kept saying "ba-ba-ba-ba". It was pretty adorable. I love hearing his little voice.

The yummy food table!

We had pens out for people to write things they were thankful for on the table... a few of the marines got pretty into it. It was fun to read what everyone wrote.

My perfectly balanced plate. And each bite had a little bit of everything on my fork :)

Sitting at the adult table like a big kid! Growing up so fast...

And we couldn't feast in front of him without letting him join in, so I brought some sweet potatoes for him to feast on (and didn't even make him eat anything green beforehand :) He was one happy little guy!

We are so blessed! I have a heart full of Thanksgiving. I truly have so many things to be thankful for!