Thanksgiving ~ 2016

Happy Turkey Day!

Boy oh boy, I LOVE Thanksgiving…I love the food, I love the fellowship, I love the few days of freedom.  But ever since becoming the dreaded A-word (“Adult” I mean!  This is a G-rated blog, people!!!), I especially love Thanksgiving when I’m not the Chef.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy cooking (well, most of the time).  But like all of you Mamas out there, I spend so much time in the kitchen these days that when holidays roll around I’m not all that interested…or motivated.  Okay, so I’m running for the hedges like a turkey with its head cut off.

Turkey…get it?

And so I’m happy to report that 2016 was a good year for this here Lazy Bones.  And for my Cadre of Little (Food) Vacuums.

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Our family kicked off the Thanksgiving week with a very fun FRIENDSGIVING with some of our very best pals, the Diazes, Densmores and Potters.

(Quick Tangent: Here’s a photo of Carrie Diaz, Marnie Densmore, Lori Potter and me, along with our favorite Server and Wine Pourer, Vlad, at our latest Ladies’ Night this fall.

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Oh my word, it was So.Much.Fun.  These women are MY PEOPLE.  MY TRIBE.  They listen to my crazy stories, they encourage me, they pray for me, they make me laugh, and they love my family.  I am so thankful for great girlfriends!  Oh, and ridiculously funny Waiters too!)

Okay, back to the main event…

Carrie and Brian Diaz hosted such a merry (and delicious!) evening for our 4 families.  All told, we have TWELVE Littles between us all, and the kids always have so much fun together (as evidenced by the noise and mess they generated).  And the adults had a blast too!

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And then on the Big Day we headed to Raleigh for a great FAMILY THANKSGIVING with all of the Wrights.

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This feast was hosted by Paul and Courtney, who I must declare made one of the most delicious Thanksgiving meals that I have ever tasted.  Just don’t tell my Dad I said that.

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And then the rest of us tried to pitch in as well.

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I made a salad.  I know, I know…LAME.  But it tasted good.  And I tossed it real fancy-like.

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It’s pretty rare for us all to come together these days.  But the stars aligned for one special evening!

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And getting all of the Wright Littles together is always a hoot.

As is getting a photo of them all smiling.  Yours Truly may have resorted to entertaining them all with my best “booty dance” (as the Lil Sir calls it) to capture these chuckles.

That’s right.  You’re welcome.

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But the apple (err…blackberry?) doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Let’s just say there’s a whole lotta personality (and energy!  and ebullience!  and sass!) in this group.

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Daddy, as usual, was the Ringleader of most of the pandemonium.  It’s hard to compete with the magnificence of my salad contribution, but this Guy’s pretty awesome.  And fun.

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I think the kids would agree.

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So there you have it…Thanksgiving 2016.

It was a week full of great food and great fun.  I’m pretty sure I have a whole lot of exercise ahead of me to make up for it.  We hope you all had very happy holiday as well!

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Happy Thanksgiving ~ 2015!

Phew.

We made it.

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With so many kooky relatives…

(All of whom we love, love, love)

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(The welcome sign from the Little Miss)

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So much yummy food…

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So much CR-AAAA-ZEEEEE!!!

(“I gotta do the Turkey dance!”)

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING

from we three Little Turkeys!!!

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Oh, and “Fluffy.”
Fluffy says Happy Thanksgiving too.

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He’s really thoughtful like that.

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Now time to take a nap…


Addendum:

“What I’m Thankful For”
By the Lil Mister (a true middle child)

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A Thanksgiving Recipe

Since I didn’t have to host OR cook this Thanksgiving (score!), I thought I’d exert myself just a tad by sharing my sure-fire recipe for holiday success…

Ready for it?!

Okay.  Start with a comfortable home (preferably NOT your own), and

Stir in some loved ones.
(The more good cooks and rowdy cousins in the batch, the better.)

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Make sure you’ve included a few fun aunts and uncles.
(The nutty ones give the dish a really great crunch.)

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Sprinkle in a little princess/fairy power to kick the flavor up a bit.
(Remembering that sass and mismatched outfits will boost your dish’s style points.)

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Top it all off with a bunch of fall leaves.
(Lazily avoiding to rake said leaves for week and weeks prior will really help with this step.)

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Then bake it all at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and pour yourself a big glass of wine.

And VOILÀ!  A Mama-Julie Thanksgiving weekend masterpiece!

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Cookbooks forthcoming.  Get excited.

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