My First Turkey

Yep, that's me.  Christmas day.  Horrified.  This is my first turkey.  I got the turkey from my chiropractor on Thanksgiving and figured I'll let my mom cook it when she comes back to town because she LOVES turkey.  I'm like my dad, I can eat it 3-4 times and then I'm done.  My mom, on the other hand, makes little turkey dinners with all the leftovers and freezes them and enjoys them for a couple of months after Thanksgiving.

But since we are starting our own traditions and we are trying new things, I thought I would go ahead and cook that turkey.  I even decided to cook it a different way than I have ever seen.  I used Alton Brown's turkey recipe where he does a brine and then cooks with aromatics.  It was juicy and delicious.  But I was SO scared.  I watched videos, I called my mom a dozen time.  It wasn't just the turkey that was a first either.  It was the stuffing, too.  But we succeeded and it was delicious.  Thanks to all for your encouragement and help.  Especially mom's hot line.  :)

My dinner dates.  They loved having the candles.

Santa came on Christmas Eve, we caught a couple of pictures before bed.  He told us that it took him 2 hours to put together the doll house.

I have to admit that I have even enjoyed some play time with this doll house.

A couple of friends in the stockings.

Aubrie was pretty excited Christmas morning.  Her eyes were sparkling on Christmas morning as she looked around, but one thing got her puzzled...where's Elf?  Our Elf on the Shelf goes back home with Santa on Christmas Eve, and she really missed coming down stairs to see where he was hiding.  But she quickly got over it and went straight to the doll house and began playing.  Emilie was excited, too.  She didn't care too much about opening presents, but she did like getting her stuff out of her stocking.  Emilie's favorite gift was her Nalgene sippy cups.  They are just like big sisters, except purple.  She loved sneaking drinks out of her big sister's cups...it just tasted better!  Now she is so proud and walks around with her cup like she is a big girl.  :)

Here are the girls with their new rolly-bags.

my girls.



Here they are riding on dad's back.  I could zoom out, but Adam wouldn't want me to show you that shot.  For some reason, Aubrie always pushes his shirt forward so she can sit directly on his back.  :)


We had a great Christmas and definitely made some memories.  I forgot to mention that we make homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and I usually make chili cheese eggs, but I didn't have enough cans of chili.  So I settled for bacon instead.  The old me would have been really upset because we ALWAYS have those eggs, but the new me rolls with the punches...thanks to having children!

Love to all! Pin It Now!