Christmas Turkey and Cramped Spaces

We made plans for Wes's family to join us on Christmas night. I decided instead of cooking the usual cheesy potatoes and ham I was going to be brave and cook a very large Turkey. I got it free at Winco thanks to a special they were running. I think it was 22 pounds! Turkeys have always made me nervous, not of course the live turkey, but the actual cooking of one. I fear dry meat, and I did not want to fall in the category of making a dry, parched turkey. I decided to use the recipe from a Real Simple magazine and made a cider glazed turkey. It required basting every half an hour, but it was so worth it. The turkey to my delight ended up being so yummy and moist! Thank you Martha Stewart. We squished everyone into our compact living room. I love family get togethers!

While we all ate and waited to open presents Violet played with Mac and Lightning.

One of the great things about buying Lydia a camera is not only is she taking pictures, but she also lets us take her picture now! Erica was really missing Phil, her Fiancee.

Adelle loves holidays so much and she always gets so excited.

Once everyone had eaten we all exchanged presents. We gave Ellen a super soft blanket. She hadn't been feeling very well and needed to rest a lot, so we figured a blanket would help with her resting time.

Violet got some really great presents from Ellen and Erica! Play food that you can cut and put back together.

Adelle loved looking through all the presents to see who each present was for.

In the end she ended up being the present girl and passed them out to everyone. I love Devin's surprised face!

Violet decided to spend the rest of the evening playing with her pretend food. There was nothing that was going to pull her away!

In the end we all ate way too much, but the company was amazing!