This is only my 3rd time cooking a turkey so I figured I might as well go big.  24 lbs isn’t easy to handle when you’re 5’2″!  I had to get on a stool to get that big bird in the brining bag.  With a little help with my sidekick, Drew, who is also not tall (yet!).  I’m certain I looked absolutely hilarious prepping our turkey for roasting.  A couple of early mornings, lots of notes to myself, and 7+ hours in the oven, and our Thanksgiving lunch was ready, and delicious, I might add!  We had 19 on the roster, so I had to get creative with seating.  And look at me using those pine cones I picked up at Morgan’s golf tournament again!   I’ve used that bag of pine cones 3 times now!  I’m so proud!

We had a giant spread of food and the weather was perfect for family basketball and flag football.  The kids had been looking forward to this since last Thanksgiving.  We moved the game to the neighbors back yard for some flat ground.  And the most exciting news is we incurred no injuries this year!  Yay!They were serious about this, eye black and everything!  As we worked on cleanup and scouring the black friday ads, these guys were having a blast!  We did make it out to snap a few pics…And our all time fave, thanks to Dawn…this catch made by Morgan and Eli’s expression of devastation….Way to go team Conley!

Aunt Jenn and Bob sat with the kids and I have a feeling they were having a great time making fun of me having a turkey maze activity page 😉 Finally, I want to share Reece’s 3rd grade Thankful Tree!  She said, “I am thankful for books because I can get smarter by the second and it inspires me to be a reading teacher when I grow up.”  I love it, Reecie Cups, you will be amazing at whatever you do!

I am so thankful I got to enjoy this Thanksgiving week with minimal practices and games and lots of fun family time!  It’s the best!