So Thankful

Since I haven't had a real juicy blog post in awhile (and by juicy, I mean some good pictures and information other than baby stuff), I decided to capture Mr. Hunt and Is Thanksgiving play by play. Well, sort of. Also, this was the first year ever that we weren't with family, so it was a very interesting but fun time cooking and being together.

We started our day with a little family photo to remember our first Thanksgiving alone, and to also remember that Jane was almost here!

Then we headed to the grocery store. I know...shame shame. That's the last thing I wanted to do. I normally just roll out of bed, come into the kitchen smelling Thanksgiving dinner already cooking, watch the Thanksgiving Parade, and slowly wake up, still in my PJs. I did most of the shopping on Monday so we didn't need much, but Mr. Hunt had a plan for the turkey and we didn't have some of the ingredients for that. To make my time out a little more enjoyable, I treated myself (and Jane), to a gingerbread latte and a zebra striped doughnut. YUM! I really wanted a plain glazed doughnut, but they were all out. I assume a lot of the doughnuts were consumed the morning of Thanksgiving too while everyone started cooking.

Mr. Hunt had a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks, but he ate it too fast for me to get the camera out. He also enjoyed a green tea on the way back home.

Here is what was on the Hunt Thanksgiving Menu:

• TURKEY
• ROLLS
• GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
• GRAVY
• MASHED POTATOES
• PUMPKIN PIE

There were plenty of other things we really wanted to cook, but this was enough food as it was. These were the essentials for us.

We made sure to make Thanksgiving a great day for the fur babies too, so while at the grocery store we picked them up some special bones. These bones can only be eaten outside, but they don't mind. They ate them alot faster than we thought. We thought this would keep them occupied for awhile, but it only did for maybe 45 minutes.

First things first....the TURKEY! We had to dress it up and get it in the oven. We had a 10 pounder so it was going to take about 3 hours to cook. I let Mr. Hunt do most of the turkey cooking so that I could take pictures. He basically cut up some veggies to put inside the turkey and on the bottom of the pan, then we stuffed some herbs inside, and rubbed under the skin and the outside with a special herb butter that he made. Pretty simple.

While we were getting the turkey ready we had the Thanksgiving Day Parade on in the background, but as soon as we had that thing in the oven, I sat down right in front of the TV with all the Black Friday ads and enjoyed watching the rest of it. No, I didn't plan on, and didnt, go out Black Friday shopping, but its still fun to look through the ads...and they also sometimes have deals going on longer than Friday and also online. I didn't really find anything fun though. River actually liked watching the parade too. I'm not sure if it was the big balloons or just the loud noises and colors.

After watching the Parade, football took over the TV and I started to make a shrimp and crab dip that I found on Pinterest. I figured since we weren't going to be eating until 3pm or so, it was a good idea to have at least one appetizer to snack on. It turned out really yummy, but there was definitely too much just for the two of us.

By the time we were done snacking, it was time to get all the sides started since the turkey was going to be done in about an hour. This is where it got pretty hard. The turkey was taking up all the room in the oven, so we couldn't put anything in the oven until it got out. We read that with foil on top of the done turkey, it would stay warm for 45 minutes so we weren't in a rush. Also, Mr. Hunt put some things onto the grill like an oven which actually worked out really well. I didn't get many pictures of this part since we were both scurrying around the kitchen trying to get everything done.

We somehow got all the food ready at the same time. Nothing got cold which I was afraid of. It was now time to eat! I popped some bubbly.....or some sparkling apple cider which was actually really yummy.

Look at all this yummy food!

I had intentions on using our fine china for the first time, but then at the last minute, we just brought out the regular plates. Oh well, maybe next year or when we have other people with us.

Then of course we only ate for like 2 minutes because we weren't even that hungry. We left our plates on the table and went back to snack after a little nap.

Then we had a great time Face Timing with our families. Technology is so great these days, we felt like we were there with our family members. It was great!

Lastly was the yummy pumpkin pie. I actually made one and a half pies. Let me explain. When I poured the ingredients into the first shell, there was leftover and I had another pie shell so I figured I would just pour the remaining in the second shell. It made for a weird looking pie, but it was still yummy.

It was a great relaxing day to say the least. Our poor little Hannah got sick from the bone that we gave her, but she wasn't phased. And of course we had a TON of leftovers. Still today, Monday, we are still eating leftovers and they are delicious!

Mr. Hunt and I have so much to be thankful for this year and always. I hate to only talk about what I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving, but it is a great day to talk about and reflect on the year. Without making this post a million words longer, Ill just say that we are SO thankful for our God who has given us everything that we are thankful for here on earth. We are also thankful for our amazing supportive families who live far away, but they make it feel like they are just as close as they've always been. Last, but not least, we are thankful for our special little girl Jane who will be here any day now. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to expand our little family.

Love you all,
Jennifer