Holiday Breakdown

Ok, quick catch up.

My parents came down from Spokane to spend Thanksgiving with us and we were so excited to have them here. I love visitors. And... aside from Thomas, I think the warm Arizona golfing weather was a big selling point.

Thomas was helpful in getting the house clean and ready. (Greg is cutting my hair out of the vacuum brush. Sexy.)

We invited one of Greg's fellow students and his wife to dinner. JB and MJ are from South Korea and have never had an American Thanksgiving, so I thought it would be fun to let them experience it. I know I would love it if I was in another country. I must say, I really should have thought about this decision a little more because JB's wife MJ went to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris...that's right, the same one that Julia Child attended.

My mom and I thought we were set with "apartment cooking", but I have to say that turkey in a bag is just as impressive as it sounds. Maybe it works for some people or maybe our turkey was too big, I'm not sure, it just didn't work for us. The sad part was it was the first time our friends had ever eaten turkey. Then there was the stuffing. I guess I never really cared that my family always ate Stove Top stuffing growing up. I was never a fan, but I knew my Dad liked it, so it was on the menu. It wasn't until Thanksgiving morning that it dawned on me what I was about to serve our guests. Too late, but I'm sure that after our meal, our guests were excited to get home to the leftovers in their own fridge. (The other food turned out great. Excellent yams Mom!! Great pumpkin pie Costco.)

JB and MJ loved the name tags and were excited when I said they could keep them. They were "hand"made with love by Thomas.

We had fun talking about the history of Thanksgiving (not sure how accurate we were), exchanging family traditions and learning about some Korean holidays. I especially loved when we all went around the room and said what we were thankful for. I know it is common in many homes to do this, but there is something about sharing a simple tradition with people who have never experienced it before. You begin to see it through their eyes.