thankful thursday - thanksgiving!

our philadelphia thanksgiving was absolutely perfect!!  julie & ben & i cooked the day away while blakey actually had on time flights across the country.  huge win for all.  much success in cooking for all dishes planned.  & we actually remember to serve each one {wink wink, mom :)}  little malcolm maintained his adorable status all day.  & one of ben's friends from work joined us for our meal.  so many things for which to be thankful.

{a ruler is a necessary cooking tool.  don't you think?}

as per our annual thanksgiving tradition, we welcomed blakey home with ben & blake's favorite thanksgiving treat - a turkey & turkey shot.  wild turkey bourbon with turkey drippings.  yummm.  {totally lying.  julie & i wont try it.  but they swear it's good.  it's at least manly?}

while julie & i enjoyed a local pumpkin ale, we decided to jazz up the turkey & turkey with spiced whipped cream & sage.  totally thanksgiving now!  apparently it was disgusting.  we'll stick with the turkey & turkey next year.

the first vandaveer thanksgiving meal means ben got to learn how to carve a turkey!  thanks to youtube, he rocked his task...

{well done, benny boo.}

our thanksgiving feast included a delicious turkey, my favorite greenbean casserole, blake's favorite mashed potatoes, julie's favorite mushroom gravy, & ben's favorite butter bread.  

{if you would like any of our recipes, check out our thanksgiving pinterest board!}

{'merica: turkey legs & football}

& dessert!  it wouldn't be thanksgiving without our grandma's pecan pie with our crunchy pecan topping twist.  we added my pumpkin cream cheese bars with a graham cracker crust & spiced whipped cream. yummmmmm.

for as long as i can remember, julie & i have gotten the turkey wishbone.  so we had to continue tradition!  please see the following photo montage:

{what am i going to wish for??}

{ok. go!}

{i win!}

{by a landslide.}

{happy thanksgiving, julie byrd!}

a huge gigantic thank you to the amazing vandaveer family for hosting thanksgiving 2012!!  love you!

{little man enjoyed his fingers for his thanksgiving meal}

happy thanksgiving!!  so many incredible things to be thankful for.

i hope you can think of something for which you are thankful.

love love,

kjp.