Michelle and Ted graciously hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year.  After Connor woke up from the nap, we got ready and headed over to their house.  Cary, Debbie, Aiden and Sophie drove up from LA and arrived shortly after we did.  Mckayla and Marcus were being good hosts, sharing their toys with everyone.  All the kids seemed to warm up with each other quickly and started playing together.  Logan was not as shy today as usual, and played with many different things.  Connor loved walking around their huge house; he just followed everyone and participated in all the playing.  Aiden enjoyed hanging out with the big kids, Mckayla and Logan, while the little sister Sophie liked to follow and play with Connor.

     When my prepared foods finished cooking in the oven, dinner was served.  The highlight of the dinner was Ted’s 20lb smoked turkey which was very moist and delicious.  The rest of the menu tonight were homemade bread, cranberry sauce, grilled vegetables, and my scalloped potatoes and corn casserole.  The adults and little ones were assigned to the big table while the three big kids had their little bench.  Logan did not want to sit in his assigned table at first, but after some convincing, he agreed and ended up having a great time with Mckayla and Aiden. Here is a short clip of their fun dining (video).  Everyone enjoyed the dinner very much and we all stuffed ourselves with tons of foods.  We had to resume some playing before considering desserts.  Logan had been looking forward to ice cream for a few days now.  After he reminded us “what about ice cream?”, we all gathered to have desserts then.  The kids got to have some ice cream with sprinkles.  Logan enjoyed every bite of his ice cream and was the last to leave their table.  Connor also had a chance to have some vanilla ice cream; he was happy to sit with and be fed by auntie Michelle.  I made my first chocolate mousse cake for the adults.  The cake did not turn out as well as I anticipated, but still quite delicious.  It was perfectly paired with a cup of coffee.  By then, all of us were just too stuffed to consider the backup pecan pie we purchased. 

     The kids went around the house and played some more before we decided to wrap up the evening.  We said our thanks and goodnights, and packed up to go home.  The boys stayed awake during the drive even though it was much later than their usual bedtime.  They went down to sleep very well after the bath.  Stuart and I now are relaxing in front of computers and TV.  It has been at least 4-5 hours after dinner, and I am still very full.  This is definitely another great Thanksgiving.