gobble gobble

At the beginning of the month our plans to spend Thanksgiving with my relatives in New Jersey fell through. Not wanting to spend the holiday alone or cook a big meal for just ourselves, Blake and I concocted a plan to organize a potluck feast that, if it grew big enough, could be held at the church. Anyone who wanted to join us would be more than welcome to come, though the main intent was so that people (mostly singles, couples, and small families from our ward) who were spending the holiday far away from family and who had no other special plans would have somewhere to go and people to eat with. The philosophy driving this idea was "the more, the merrier," and that is certainly how it turned out.

After determining that there was an interest in an event like this, we set to organizing it. I found a really great potluck organizing website and used it to create a traditional Thanksgiving menu, while still leaving room for the variety of family traditions and different cultures. Every adult who came was asked to sign up to bring one dish, though some contributed more. As for the turkeys, one couple was able to find two big birds for a good price and offered to buy them. Everyone who came helped to cover the cost, and if you chose to sign up for the turkey, your assignment was to cook it.

It didn't take long for people to start signing up in earnest. Blake volunteered to cook one of the turkeys and did a great job. I made a jell-o salad and a lemon meringue pie. In the end, we had more food than we could even begin to stuff ourselves with. And we had nearly 30 people, not including children, who came! It was, to put it mildly, a roaring success.



After dinner, we digested our food over good conversation and games of Catch Phrase and ping pong. The kids were very intrigued by the ping pong and wanted to join in the fun, so the more serious players, who didn't want to keep tripping over short people during their more intense games, set up a table just for them. It was perfect.


I was amazed at how much energy the kids had, particularly Garrett and Caleb, especially considering that they each only consumed about three crackers and half a roll each. They spent almost the entire meal chasing each other around the room. I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised at this behavior, considering the pre-meal wrestling match they engaged in. (Notice who's pinning who. This is typical.)


Even though people were not yet finished feasting, Caleb decided to get a head start on the cleaning. He found a pint sized broom and when I found him, he was out in the hallway busy doing this:


Once the rest of us were ready to clean up and clear out, Caleb busied himself at the drinking fountain. By the time we were ready to lock up the building and go (which really wasn't too long, thanks to everyone's help and a relatively small mess to begin with), Caleb was completely soaked. He complained about it the whole way home, and, presumably because being so wet was uncomfortable, he started walking with a bowlegged gait, but there wasn't much we could about fixing the problem until we got there. It turned out that walking in wet denim was rubbing his poor legs raw, and he kept up his pained cowboy stance the rest of the night.

The bus ride home was a sleepy ride for everyone, but Garrett managed to make a point of exclaiming, "That a good, fun Thanksgiving party!" I couldn't agree more. This was one of the best Thanksgivings we've had since we've been far away and on our own (ranking second only to the year we spent at Plimoth Plantation). I would do this again in a heartbeat. With help from everyone who came, it was easy to organize. And the company couldn't have been better.