Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we were not able to go back East to be with our families. We had hoped to host some basic military trainees (BMT) for the holiday who would otherwise be stuck in the dorms for the holiday. Unfortunately, we went on the wait list and there were no BMTs that needed a place to go. So it was unfortunate for us but we were glad they all had other homes to go to.

Dad and Diana decided to come out to visit that week. They knew we would be in San Antonio for the holiday and had wanted to visit us before their trip to visit Katherine and Phil in Laos. And, they also wanted to visit some close friends of theirs in Austin, which is only 90 minutes north of San Antonio. So they made a week excursion to Texas. Here is a picture of our table, equipped with all the beautiful china and crystal that our family members and friends GENEROUSLY bought us for our wedding, engagement, and shower. It was stunning!


We also had some friends from work over for the festivities because they were also not able to go home to visit their families. Stephen and Kari Stouder are from California. Craig and Sara (soon to be married as the Bryans) are from Indiana. The Stouders and Bryans brought some of the dishes and we made the rest of the food ourselves - with guidance from Diana. Dad made some great garlic mashed potatoes. Can you believe that considering we made the food, that not a single guest died of food poisening or anything! Actually, the food was very good. Nothing like Aunt Mary Lynne's Thanksgiving Day cooking, but it was the next best thing. She let me use her recipe and gave me guidance over the phone a few times throughout the process. I carved the turkey for the first time ever, usually my 1st cousin Billy does it. I'm learning...