Thanksgiving

Let's be honest: Thanksgiving is all about the pie. Since I was gone for five of the six days leading up to Thanksgiving, I had to make all of our pies on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Of course I decided to make 7 pies, because there needs to be enough pie for unlimited enjoyment! I made four pumpkin cheesecakes, 2 sour cream apple pies, and one raisin pecan cookie pie (the raisin content guarantees that I get that pie to myself--yum!). It took 3.5 hours to make all 7 pies. It was a lot. Rose and Amber helped. Amber helped for about 1/3 of the time, and Rose helped for about 2/3 of the time. It was fun spending time in the kitchen with my girls! Desserts are my least favorite thing to make, so having company in the kitchen makes a huge difference.

Sassy pie victory picture.

We started Thanksgiving Day off with our 19th Annual White Family Turkey Trot at 8:30am. Before the turkey trot, Jeff spatchcocked the turkey, swathed it in butter and bacon, and put it in the oven at 325 degrees for four hours. It was so tender and not dry! Yum! 

It rained steadily for the entire time during our turkey trot. The temperature was 39 degrees, so with the rain it was pretty yucky and miserable outside. Still, about 15 stalwart people came! The canal road was a sloppy muddy mess, and Cemetery Road was only moderately better. We were all wet and mud- splattered by the end of the 5k. Jeff and I were dethroned by two high schoolers from our team: Anthony Medina won it, and Bethany Thornton was the first female finisher. I was 18 seconds behind her, in 23:38. Jay chose to pace Rose for the 5k rather than race it himself, and they ran a 26:00. Amber ran a smooth 30:13. Jeff finished in 18:58. We shivered back through the merciless rain to the warm barn for hot cider and hot chocolate. 

I made some very cute paper medals this year, hand drawn on my computer and printed off. I set them out with a cup of markers and people could color their own medal. The kids who came liked that. All in all, it was a successful turkey trot! 

After some pie and a nice hot shower, I started in on the cooking. 30 minutes later at 11am, the rest of the family joined me. We worked together in the kitchen for a solid 90 minutes before it was just me again. Our kitchen makes large meal prep such a breeze! Counter space for everyone and everything, and lots of ovens. 

The family arrived at 1:15pm. When we sat down to eat, I felt ALL of the fatigue from the long day hit me in a wave. Sand in the bloodstream. But I remembered to take a few (4) pictures! 

After the main feast, everyone lounged around, snacking on pie till about 5pm, then left. We had: Dan, Leslie, Sam, Katherine, Tate, Grayce, and Cole, plus the five of us and Sam's dog Ben. (Steph, Jasen, and Layne were at BMX championship race in Oklahoma.)

After everyone left, we cranked the Christmas music and cleaned everything up. Our spacious countertops were soon covered in clean drying pots, pans, and dishes, and the dishwasher was swishing. 

When we finished cleaning up, we sat on the couch and had family scripture. Rose was in charge. She had us say all of the Articles of Faith. Amber, Rose, and I were doing pretty well reciting from memory, but when we faltered once around number 5, Jeff and Jay took over and started reading them as fast as they could! Amber, Rose, and I were rather indignant at having our memory test snatched away from us. Amber has most of the Articles of Faith memorized--just not at flawless crazy fast top speed! 

It was a cozy happy family Thanksgiving. I was so glad to be able to host the family again. I am a home body, and that trait is amplified on holidays. I am thankful for my home and my family.

Before we began the great pie bake of 2025, I looked at the empty pans and felt daunted.

A double recipe of pumpkin cheesecake fits in the mixer very well, and makes four pie pan cheesecakes.

Victory!

Early morning bone crunching spatchcock. I was SO glad not to be involved in that gruesome task this year!

Color your own medal!

The starting line! One family arrived a bit late and started after us. Special thanks to our friend Job Wise for taking pictures.

Everyone had to shout "gobble gobble gobble!" as the race began.

Sloppy sopping wet Jay and Rose on Cemetery Road.

That's me in pink trying to chase down Bethany.

Amber ran with my friend Danae for most of the race. That's her cousin Grayce on the left.

Jay and Rose finishing! It was so hard to stand around all cold and wet waiting for everyone to finish! We brought trash bags to the starting line for people to put their coats in while they ran.

Mud splattered high school runners: Bethany, Rose, Jay, and Anthony.

Amber, stopping her watch as if there was a finish line camera to scan her nonexistent race number.

Three cute cousins, all wet and muddy: Amber, Grayce, and Tate.

From behind.

The barn was so warm and dry after that cold wet run.

I colored myself a medal. This slippery wet muddy run definitely tested my tendons, and they were extra sore afterwards. But I didn't re-injure them. My fitness is staging a comeback, and this 5k showed me that I still have a ways to go but it's not so far gone as I sometimes think as I gasp through a run. I still can't run more than 20 miles/4 days a week, but I'm ok with that during winter.

Wet post race family selfie!

Rose and I had ratty rain run hair.

Potato prep.

Rolling.

The feast!

We all fit comfortably in this spacious house, and there was plenty of food. Especially the mashed potatoes. We made 15 pounds, but only about 5 pounds got eaten.

Jeff's brother Sam brought his dog, Ben. Ben was very calm and fuzzy, and even basked by our fake fire in a cozy way.

Happy Thanksgiving!