Thanksgiving

We gathered at Mer, Pete and Kate's house to celebrate Thanksgiving! Cheryl brought her legendary antipasto assortment.



Mmm, so good!



I brought some sugared cranberries.



Mer made a beautiful salad!



Fairytale of New York. Cheers!



Moss made delightful deviled eggs.



Playing with Jasper.



Turkeys checking the turkey!



Vana brought temporary tattoos!



Metallic!



Yessss, salad.



Tats!



Jasper and his Auntie Kayla.



Dad got a tiny ear tattoo!



Dennis, Vana and Derrick.



We put Joe in charge of carving the turkey this year.



Kates with tattoos.



That is my kale and caramelized onion stuffing! Mmmm.



Dad and Ben devising a strategy for what to eat first.



Mer announcing that it's time to eat!



Jon made a sweet potato casserole.



This is a not great photo of Yang's green bean casserole, but it's the only picture I got. This was probably the most discussed menu item of the night! People went bonkers for it.



My kale and caramelized onion stuffing.



All together now!



Pies!!! Apple.



Pumpkin.



Key lime.



Brownies and a cranberry tart.



Playing with Jasper while we make room for pie.






One good way to make room for pie is to play a rousing game of butt quarters!



Put the quarter in your butt crack, drop it in the shot glass. It's that simple!






Go, Jon!



Go, Kate!



Kate farted when her quarter dropped and we all thought it was just the funniest thing ever.



Cracking up!



If you don't break the shot glass, did you even play butt quarters?



Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Happy 50th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Today is Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. Fifty years of marriage!!! That is something worth celebrating! Since Mom and Dad are obsessed with going to Pork & Pickles Kitchen restaurant at Devil's Kettle, Mer and I came up with the idea to hire Becky to cook a private celebration dinner for us.

We told Mom and Dad that we wanted to do a small family dinner in their honor, and that Mer and I were going to cook them something special. When they arrived at Mer's house, Becky would be in the kitchen making dinner, a total surprise!!! It totally worked!!





Sears catalog poses under the balloons!






Happy anniversary from the whole family!



We had Smitten Kitchen's Fairy Tale of New York bourbon cocktails to kick things off.



Only 27 years until we get to celebrate your 50th, Mer and Pete!



Now, let's eat! Becky prepared a four-course meal. The first course was coconut curry meatballs with a dill yogurt sauce. These were incredible!! We gobbled the whole platter!



Becky let us know the details of each course as she served them.



Moroccan peanut stew. This had tons of delicious veggies and nutty peanuts. MMM!



Ham Caesar Salad! With brioche croutons. The ham was amazing. This salad is so great!



The entree was pork tenderloin, served with honey-glazed parsnips and roasted green beans with bacon jam.



Two platters of it!! It was amazing!! The pork was insanely delicious, and the veggies were delightful. And the bacon jam is over the top! Each course of this dinner was so incredibly yummy. It was so special to have Pork & Pickles Becky to ourselves all night and eat her delicious cooking! What a great way to celebrate a wonderful couple on a very special day.



Before dessert, we did a champagne toast.



Cheers! To fifty years!



Mer made a chocolate cake!



As is tradition in our households, little Kate helped blow out the candles. Make a wish!