I was pretty down about missing Thanksgiving with the in-laws this year. I thought instead of our bustling Italian dinner of close to 30 people we’d be having a quiet meal of 4: Mark, my grandmother, M., and me. Luckily, some friends of ours invited us over.

We kicked the morning off with Turkey Bowl 2010 at church. The Menininho really wanted to play with the grownups…maybe next year! He definitely kept his Bisa (great-grandmother) on her toes as she tried to keep him from diving into the game. I played photographer for the event.

The afternoon was spent getting ready for the dinner. I made my aunt’s famous cranberry salad, a Thanksgiving staple, and Mark and my grandmother prepared Mom’s green beans. Did you know on the West Coast, they play the Macy’s parade twice? I loved showing it to M.!

There were 5 couples, 2 extended family members, 6 children, and 2 fetuses at the dinner. I don’t know how we all fit into the apartment! The highlight of my evening was watching M. interact with the other kids. Usually he is doing his own thing in some other part of the room, but that evening he followed around the older kids for most of the night. Mark and I were so proud!

The food was amazing too. Seriously…best oven baked turkey I’ve ever had. I am not a big meat eater and I had 3 helpings! I’m grateful the baby has dropped so I had room in my belly for all that food, haha. It was nice to celebrate Thanksgiving a new way this year, with other families our age, and I really appreciate the invitation.

What did you do for Thanksgiving?