Hosting Our First Thanksgiving

Well, we did it! We survived hosting our first Thanksgiving holiday, and everything was wonderful. Sure, my floors may never be the same and I may be sweeping up little crumbs of food from now until the end of time, but it was so worth it!

The Wilsons - Thanksgiving 201

I've said it before, but having such a large extended "family bush" makes our holidays somewhat hectic.  There is always pressure to head to the next house and disappointment for cutting visits too short, which is why we decided to stay put and invite everyone to come to us!

Mr. proudly carving his first turkey

The inside table setting

One of the outside table settings

You can't have Thanksgiving without football:)

A Thanksgiving blessing before the meal

We've been in our new house for 6 months now, which makes it not so new anymore, but this was the first time for many of Mr.'s side of the family to see it.  Even the Tennessee bunch of Wilson's came home for the holiday!

Mr.'s dad's side of the family

Mr.'s mom and her family were all able to make it, as well as my mom and step-dad.  The guest list was just as full as the dinner menu, I'm so glad to be a part of a family that can cook!

Mr.'s mom's side of the family

Everyone arrived around 3PM and dinner was served around 4PM.  The rest of the evening was spent visiting and watching the cousins bounce in the fun jump and run wild together.  It's not too often that we're all under one roof!

Jackson loves his bounce house, and spent most of his Thanksgiving bouncing:)

Once the sun went down it got just crisp enough to turn on the fireplace outside to keep the adults warm while the kids continued to play.  We were even able to get a few family photos before everyone started to clear out.

And after the last guest left, Mr. and I sat for a minute and reflected on our Thanksgiving.  Jackson fell asleep in Mr.'s arms after his bath and slept straight through his breathing treatment, sweet boy played until he couldn't play anymore!

Then the real fun started...cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner for 30! Cleaning up after a party is much like coming home from vacation - it's so much more fun to pack your bags then to unpack them! We are oh so thankful for my parents, who stayed until the last dish was washed and even took the silver home to polish! Bless you:)

The rest of our weekend was full of family time for our party of 3, Christmas trees, football and garland...more to come!