The Day After...

I hope you all (in the US) had a lovely Thanksgiving! We certainly did. Here's everyone gathered around the table. Starting from the left and going clockwise: SIL2 (Michael), Daughter 2 (Elizabeth), my mother, my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, Daughter 1 (Emily), SIL1 (Tommy). Hubby and I didn't make it into the picture - someone had to hold the camera!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday these days - it's all about family without the worry over presents. We enjoyed lots of laughter and bonding. Mom will be with us until Sunday, but all the others have gone. The house seems quiet this morning!

I'm the primary cook for the Thanksgiving meal. We had turkey, dressing, gravy, green beans, sweet potato casserole, Autumn Roasted Vegetables with Apples and Pecans, cranberry sauce, pickled red onions, Honey Baked Ham (purchased by my mom), yeast risen pumpkin rolls (made by Daughter 2, iced tea (thanks to Daughter 1), and pumpkin pie and pecan pie (thanks to my MIL). Whew! It was all so good.

The Autumn Roasted Vegetables with Apples and Pecans was a new-to-me recipe that I found on Pinterest. You can find the recipe HERE. It includes fresh brussels sprouts, butternut squash, red onions, apples, pecans, and dried cranberries. SO DELICIOUS! I will start making this a regular on our Thanksgiving menu.

As you can see, Cooper has really bonded with Mom, though he keeps stealing tissues from her lap. Ha!

There will be no Black Friday shopping for us today! What will we do? Well, we haven't been swimming since Monday, so that first on the list this morning. We'll take Mom along to watch us. And then there will be a relaxing day ahead. Christmas movie, anyone?

The only sewing I've done is hexie basting, But I've done a good bit! In fact, I'm almost ready to sew the pieces together. I forgot to mention that while Daughter 2 and SIL2 were here, I helped her make a Christmas tree skirt. She did all the work. Yesterday morning she sewed the binding on by machine, and later in the day she started hand stitching the binding to the back side. She brought her sewing machine with her - I cleaned the lint from inside, changed the needle, and made sure it was running smoothly. She'll have the tree skirt done in no time - wish I'd taken a picture, but I didn't. Maybe she'll send me one once she has it around her tree.

I wish you all a happy Friday!