Just Visiting: A Day of Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was a special one to me. And by special I mean stressful, sick, and busy! But before I go on I have to say that it was totally worth it. I had the honor of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for 18 people at my home! It was so fun, and very, very, very hectic! Maybe the added cold made things seem a bit more stressful than the normal tasks of cleaning, cooking, cleaning, and more cleaning! Thankfully I had my parents to help and without them I would have ended up buying everyone McDonald's.

Tell me that isn't the sweetest picture you've ever seen.

My parents showed up at 9 am in order to help me with this impossible task of feeding the 5000. I mean 18. We cooked up the mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, and prepared the turkey. It is tradition that dad cuts the turkey. Or at least he is the one who always does it. It's probably that "man and his tool" thing that we women don't understand. Unless you put it in terms like "a woman and her shoes." Ahhh... now we get it.

Like all crazy Americans, we filled ourselves full of food and then some. I think we were all starving because we were done eating in ten minutes. All eighteen of us.

Then of course the Galley tradition of "What I am Thankful For" went around the table as each one of us shared some joys, tears, and love. I used to hate that part when I was a kid. It seemed to last forever. I just wanted to go and play with the cousins. But now I find joy in hearing the way God has provided for each member of my family and why they are Thankful for his provision. God definitely has been good to our family. And I am thankful for our family. (that's for all of you who were there at the table!)

We also had the privilege of hosting a wedding shower for my cousin Bekah and her fiance Ian. My dad made up the games, and as any of you who know my dad, the games were fun and wild.

As the future couple reconsider the "plunge" they are about to take, we threw giant garters at their heads.

Then we had to compete with our significant other as to who could put the puzzle together the fastest. How this related to a wedding and the pun that went with it, I'm not sure. But I know there was one. It's my dad for cryin' out loud.

Last but not least, we had a final race to filling a champagne class with salt. All I remember about that was how "the two become one" mixing of the sand tradition somehow inspired the game. And after that, it's as good as your guess. But here's the game. It got violent. Eric cheated and Uncle Keith almost knocked Aunt Ruth to the ground. Beware of the Galley men. They are vicious. I don't want to know how it would have turned out if we all hadn't just finished gorging ourselves with turkey.

Then we opened presents. Or I guess Bekah and Ian opened presents. I guess I was sort of living vicariously through them at the time. I love opening presents. Anyways, I had a blast seeing Ian's response to our gift. Since girls were to buy for girls and boys were to buy for boys, I had a hard time finding anything boyish on the Bed Bath and Beyond registry. So I figured he registered for the "sillier" things- and bought those for him, from Chris. And I was right on the money! He loved the tomato, onion, and garlic savers, as well as the little potato washer thingy. I made a bouquet of utensils for Bekah.