Happy Turkle Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! (Or, Happy Turkle Day if you're Amber...she struggled getting "Happy Turkey Day" out today and said Turkle several times. It has a nice ring...)

As I sit here writing this, Thanksgiving Day is coming to a close, but most of you reading this are just sitting down to "watch some football" (a.k.a.--take a nap). The day was great. It all kicked off yesterday evening when most of our team house-swapped. The Intemann's went and stayed with the Stevenson's, so Amber, Patsy, and I (Alethea wasn't feeling well) invaded the Intemann's house. You're probably wondering why 7/13 of our team packed up to go 10 minutes across town to stay for the night. Good question. And honestly one I didn't even think twice about, until Bryan pointed out that it's really just not "normal" in the States for people to go stay at a colleague's house, only 10 minutes away, on the night before Thanksgiving. But, when you live in a foreign country and are celebrating a holiday that the rest of the country doesn't acknowledge, you're driven to do some abnormal things. And it was fun. =)

Amber and I are proudly showing off our first-ever Pecan Pie. And, for the record, this was no regular pie plate...this thing was a beast. It practically took 2 of us to lift it! One of the benefits of staying at the Intemann's house was using their kitchen...slightly larger than our apartment-sized kitchen! We also were responsible for the mashed potatoes (I learned from the master...my dad!) and the green bean casserole. Yum.
Do you know what we call this? The Polish Winter Refrigerator. That's right. The drinks are actually cooler when left outside than when stored in the refrigerator. And think how much space is saved! (Notice the cans of Jellied Cranberry Sauce...the Winter Refrigerator works for food, too! We stored cheesecake and plates of leftovers out there as well.)
Here it is! The celebratory spread. Do you think the Pilgrims used Polish Pottery? There was so much delicious food, there wasn't enough room for everything on the table, so Stacey had to hold up the mashed potatoes for the photo op. Everything was wonderful. The food was just like Thanksgiving in the States. We had lots of people send us different ingredients we needed to make it official. Pleast take note of the ginormous plate of cranberry sauce. Yum!
And, the coup de gras...the desert table! There was pumpkin pie, pecan pie, spiced pecans, fudge, cherry cheesecake, buckeyes, pumpkin roll, and a large bowl of whipped cream. Need I say anything else? Behold, it is a thing of beauty.
And, finally, this photo just makes me smile. This is Becca, Ethan and Mikaila at the kiddie table. They were having a good old time and it totally reminded me of many Thanksgivings at Grandma Davis's house with the cousins...laughing hysterically and being utterly obnoxious (not that these kids were obnoxious at all...but I think it's fair to say that, at times, we probably fit the bill). And, please notice the bottle of ketchup on the table. As the kids were sitting down with their food, I distinctly heard one of them ask for ketchup. It was like music to my ears...a child after my own heart. Everything's better with ketchup. Even Thanksgiving.

So, in a nutshell, that was our Thanksgiving. After enjoying all of the yummy food, we drank coffee, visited with a Polish friend who stopped by to wish us all a Happy Thanksgiving, then started the mini-euchre tournament. Amber and I were on a team and were 1 and 1. It was a great time and, while I definitely missed enjoying the day with my family back in the states (but did enjoy talking with some of them via Skype--thanks for saying "hi" everyone!), it still felt like family being with our team here.

So now, I guess this means the Holiday Season has officially kicked off. Amber has been chomping at the bit to break out our few Christmas decorations and let the music rip, but I've been holding her back. It just doesn't seem right before Thanksgiving...and besides, you end up burned out by the week before Christmas. At least that's my experience. But, in an effort to spread Christmas cheer, I'll share this link with you. Just check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.