Turkey Notes

Thanksgiving this year had the potential to become a very lonely day for us. My parents weren't able to come out at the last minute, leaving Brian, the little Bear and I to fend for ourselves. We were planning to do an 'orphan' Thanksgiving with other Las Vegas friends who were family-less for the big day, and then even those folks ended up going to see family or had family come out here. So Brian and I steeled ourselves for a rather quiet day on the couch when thankfully, the Smith family intercepted us.

And it turned out to be the most fun Thanksgiving, ever! Aside from amazing hospitality and food to die for, the day was remarkably laid-back and chill. They have a tradition that we might also implement in the future: everyone wears sweats. Um, is this not the best idea ever? I mean, why are we cramming ourselves into buttons and zippers, only to overeat hours later? Why did we not come up with a 'stretchy-waistband-only' rule? 

Big Dave, Jason, and Brian fried the turkey in the backyard while the women tended the children. Scotty also took yesterday to sleep almost 3 hours in the afternoon, giving Momma something to be thankful for. He then proceeded to have a lovely disposition for the rest of evening, making my life 100x easier. Baby Sam slept and Carson the Toddler Tornado spent some quality time with his best girl, Dora. Evidence below.

Thanksgiving Bear

Sleeping Beauty

The quiet before the storm...

Probably most charming of all the Smith family traditions is the inclusion of "Turkey Notes."  These are little poems that are placed on everyone's dinner plate and read prior to the consumption of the meal. Courtney and her sister-in-law (who was unable to attend) wrote the poems this year. Everyone read their turkey note in order from oldest to youngest (with Brian being awfully close to going first...haha).  I LOVED our Turkey Notes and maybe we can include this in our family holiday in the years to come.

Brian's Turkey Note:

Turkey cheese,
Turkey crackers,
Turkey day is great...
After a win for my Packers!

Turkey throw up,
Turkey puke,
Turkey says Scotty's...
Gonna be on a scholarship at Duke!

Scotty's Turkey Note:

Turkey Town Square,
Turkey Fashion Show Mall,
Turkey says...
You are the cutest and most loved baby Thanksgiving Butterball!

Turkey Fisher Price,
Turkey Little Tyke.
Turkey says...
What's a day without a nap strike?

And finally, mine:

Turkey freezing cold,
Turkey hot.
Turkey says...
You are the best Momma ever to your little bear Scott!

Turkey friendship,
Turkey cheer.
Turkey says...
This dinner would only be made better if George was here!

(Yes, that would be George, my ob/gyn. Courtney and I see the same doctor and joke all the time that we are going to attend each other's appointments and really freak him out. hahaha.)

Anyways, thank you Smith Family for such a great day!!!