December 7, 2008

Thanksgiving...Dodson style

This year we spent Thanksgiving here in Orlando with John's family. We had 39 people over for Thanksgiving dinner...well lunch really. It was quite an experience!






Joanna took over a lot of the cooking since John's mom felt sick. The night before Thanksgiving they prepared the turkey so it could cook all night. They actually made 3 turkeys since there were going to be so many people. This foil was carefully constructed by John's grandpa. We learned not to mess with the foil. It is serious business.







This is one of the turkeys right before it went into the oven...stuffed and ready!










We peeled over 20 lbs of potatoes for mashed potatoes. Phillip drained the potatoes and then passed them over to John.







John used the hand mixer to mash the potatoes. He was a little upset at first because Amy added too much milk but he's so good that he was able to fix it. Although the second batch turned out better than the first because John took over total control. :)








Then it was time to eat!








And eat...and eat...and eat!











And then it was time to sleep :) That night there were about 20 people staying at the Dodson house (me included). I cuddled up with Holly in the girl's room. Adam slept on one couch and Luke was on the other. Luke and Elizabeth took over the boys room while Ken and Gail slept on the inflatable mattress in the middle of the floor.



Andrew and Phillip slept on the floor in the living room and Hannah and Stephanie slept on the floor in the girls room. Sarah and Tim were smart to secure their spot in a bed at someone else's house. Needless to say it was packed at the Dodson house....but it was great fun!





Sarah and Amy...cousins








Aren't we cute :)