Thanksgiving at the Whomptons
Because Krystal and Eric have family in Kentucky and Nashville, which are somewhat close to Saint Louis and certainly close to each other, the Whomptons traditionally travel for the holidays. And we travel to both sets of families, which means multiple Thanksgiving meals, multiple rounds of opening gifts, endless streams of pecan pie, and ridiculous amounts of NPR and bad xmas music. We decided that, this year, the Whomptons would celebrate Thanksgiving in Saint Louis, and we invited all of our families to travel to see us. We were very surprised when all family members said, "um, okay, see you then," and suddenly we were hosting 16 people for Thanksgiving.
Now, our house is not equipped for 16 people. We can barely seat 6 people in our living room, and our cheap KMart table seats 5 people if we all squeeze. But the prospect of combining the White and Compton families together was so exciting that it determined to make it work.
We:
- immediately ordered more plates, bowls, and silverware
- sat down and planned the menu, the shopping list, and the week's schedule of cleaning, cooking, and Raina care
- practiced making food we'd never really made before. We made a practice turkey, pecan pie, pumpkin cheesecake, a fruity bundt cake (which did not make the final cut), and some other things. We then made insane modifications on all things and hoped that our recipe changes would work on the big day. Here's the pumpkin cheesecake.
- pondered, "Good God, what have we gotten ourselves into?" and
- went shopping for a real dining room table. We didn't expect one to seat 16, but 10-12 would be nice. Krystal and Sammy fell in love with a lovely walnut table, but Eric was opposed. After another few weeks of very painful searching, we returned back to that same store, and Eric suddenly saw the light. We ordered the table and delighted that it would be delivered the day before Thanksgiving. Success!
Over the next few weeks, we learned that our numbers had dwindled. First, we lost Stephanie, then we lost all 6 members of Josh's family. It made life easier to plan for a smaller number of people, but it made life more exciting to plan for everyone. All of our cooking and cleaning was worth it because our families were here.
What was most surprising was the relative lack of leftovers from that weekend. Krystal was in charge of consuming the chocolate-pumpkin cheesecake, so that took a while (no one else wanted it, apparently) and we have some turkey. Everything else was essentially gone. Krystal was disappointed to learn that she had to make another big meal so we'd have leftovers and "instant-meals" for this week.
We also learned a very important fact: Apparently the combination of Krystal and Emily is not the catalyst for continuous Compton family photos. For the first time (possibly ever) we did not take family photos. I guess it means we're double-due come the winter holidays :)
However, the camera came out plenty that weekend. Here are some nice shots of the White-Compton-Whompton families.
As you might well imagine, Bill's camera emerged many a time over the weekend. Here's Raina delighting in looking at the pictures and identifying who is in them. She just kept saying, "Raina, Raina, that's Raina too" over and over again.
Raina enjoying her Thanksgiving meal. She had to eat it in two stages.
For some random reason, Eric enjoyed putting advertisement inserts down Raina's pants. Admittedly, Raina thought it was hilarious too.
Now, our house is not equipped for 16 people. We can barely seat 6 people in our living room, and our cheap KMart table seats 5 people if we all squeeze. But the prospect of combining the White and Compton families together was so exciting that it determined to make it work.
We:
- immediately ordered more plates, bowls, and silverware
- sat down and planned the menu, the shopping list, and the week's schedule of cleaning, cooking, and Raina care
- practiced making food we'd never really made before. We made a practice turkey, pecan pie, pumpkin cheesecake, a fruity bundt cake (which did not make the final cut), and some other things. We then made insane modifications on all things and hoped that our recipe changes would work on the big day. Here's the pumpkin cheesecake.
- pondered, "Good God, what have we gotten ourselves into?" and
- went shopping for a real dining room table. We didn't expect one to seat 16, but 10-12 would be nice. Krystal and Sammy fell in love with a lovely walnut table, but Eric was opposed. After another few weeks of very painful searching, we returned back to that same store, and Eric suddenly saw the light. We ordered the table and delighted that it would be delivered the day before Thanksgiving. Success!
Over the next few weeks, we learned that our numbers had dwindled. First, we lost Stephanie, then we lost all 6 members of Josh's family. It made life easier to plan for a smaller number of people, but it made life more exciting to plan for everyone. All of our cooking and cleaning was worth it because our families were here.
What was most surprising was the relative lack of leftovers from that weekend. Krystal was in charge of consuming the chocolate-pumpkin cheesecake, so that took a while (no one else wanted it, apparently) and we have some turkey. Everything else was essentially gone. Krystal was disappointed to learn that she had to make another big meal so we'd have leftovers and "instant-meals" for this week.
We also learned a very important fact: Apparently the combination of Krystal and Emily is not the catalyst for continuous Compton family photos. For the first time (possibly ever) we did not take family photos. I guess it means we're double-due come the winter holidays :)
However, the camera came out plenty that weekend. Here are some nice shots of the White-Compton-Whompton families.
As you might well imagine, Bill's camera emerged many a time over the weekend. Here's Raina delighting in looking at the pictures and identifying who is in them. She just kept saying, "Raina, Raina, that's Raina too" over and over again.
Raina enjoying her Thanksgiving meal. She had to eat it in two stages.
For some random reason, Eric enjoyed putting advertisement inserts down Raina's pants. Admittedly, Raina thought it was hilarious too.
Emily hung out with us longer than anyone else. She took Raina to the big kids playground, played many games with us, gave us the first few seasons of Buffy, escorted at Hope, and played endlessly with Raina. Can you find her in the next two shots?
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