I haven't posted a lot about the basement....I plan to do a full post about it soon, but the basement was way more done than it was this time last year! In fact I'd say it's 99% finished. It was very nice that there was walls and we didn't have to rely on a rented heater to stay warm!
Here's how the basement was all set up. Pa always comes over on Black Friday to set up the tables for me. It's so nice to not have to worry about this part. The couch, bistro table and the white entertainment center was all pushed to this side to make room for the tables.
The doorway in the above picture leads to the bathroom. I just love how cute the bathroom down here turned out. Just the day before I picked up the cute towels and put them on the shelves I got from Amazon. I seriously think it turned out so cute!
I always buy the big paper platter plates at Walmart since a normal round paper plate will not fit all that yummy food on it! Pa brought a bunch of their nice napkins and he also got these really nice throw away insulated cups. He had used colorful ribbons as the centerpiece, but he didn't know that I had found these cute lanterns at Fred Meyer's for a steal. They were normally $34, but were 90% off so I only paid $3.40!!!
Quite a few of the people that we have invited in the past weren't able to make or they've since moved out of state. I really like to invite people that don't have a lot of family in the area that way they don't feel alone during the holiday. Katie and Ernie from church have two daughters, but they both live in different states. There youngest daughter, son-in-law and their first grandbaby were actually in town so I said they could absolutely join us. Once baby Eli got to the porch he was promptly taken from his mom Sarah....by me and snuggled for a bit. After that he was passed around. He is such a good baby! Jeanette from church is holding him in this picture....look at those cheeks!!!
Even Ella Bean got to hold him!
Sadly right around the time to eat, Eli was really wanting to take a nap so Katie and Sarah took him back to their house so he could snooze. In fact Katie later told me he passed out in the car right away.
We have been putting on Thanksmas for 7 years now and I've always cooked turkey. This year I really wanted to make a ham though. I have never made a ham...it's not really making ham though...it's just heating it up since it's fully cooked. Last year at Thanksgiving in Oregon we had a ham that was the most juicy, flavorful ham I've ever had in my life and I knew I wanted to make that. I ended up buying a 20lb ham from Safeway. We wrapped it in foil, put it in the electric roaster and warmed it up slowly for about 4 1/2 hours. I didn't do any glaze at all and it turned out just like I wanted it. If I was to do anything different next time I would cut the ham in half and wrap both pieces in foil so it would have heated through quicker. As it was we actually cut into the ham before the center was up to temperature since it was time to eat. The only part that wasn't completely heated through was the center so we just ate the outer portion. Again since it was fully cooked it didn't matter at all.
On top of ham I also made roasted carrots, sweet potato casserole and a glaze for the ham on the side. I also bought the rolls and made up a plate of green and black olives...which I totally forgot to put out until everyone was finished eating. Everybody else pitched in a brought something...we did not go hungry that's for sure!
I didn't have assigned seats so people just sat wherever they wanted to.
The only person I was worried about getting down to the basement was Gail...in the purple...she's been using a cane lately so I knew it would be tricky since our stairs coming down don't have a handrail. I told her she could come down the outside stairs since there is a handrail and walk around to the basement front door or Pa could drive her down the easement and then she could just walk to the basement front door. She chose coming down the outside stairs and it worked out great.
Once the kids were done eating they went out to the garage to hang out. They had the Xbox out there to entertain themselves and the pool table as well.
Ella and Justine were just being spectators.
Christina and the girls were downstairs so I sat with them a bit to visit. It's been a hard year for their family since Christina's mom recently died. We haven't been able to see them much so this visit was much overdue!
Gail moved over to visit with Pa & Bill...they had great time chatting.
Michael's friend Peter came with his wife Sandy. Michael knows Peter because he works for PACE which is an engineering firm that Michael uses at work. They had a great time and I think they will become regular attenders of Thanksmas from now on!
Even though Katie and Sarah took baby Eli home, Ernie stayed and ate with us. Ernie has been helping out with youth group at church for as long as Michael and I have....everyone loves Mr. Ernie!
My sweet sister!!!
Such beauties!
This year has been hard for Ella...she's been going through some stuff...normal teenage stuff and more. She hasn't really been herself lately, but she's been seeing a new doctor and we've definitely noticed some improvements and I think she's noticed it too. I remember being her age and how tough it was growing up. I had a really hard time with relationships especially with girls and I think she's going through the same thing. Thankfully after a bit she warmed up to the girls and they started hanging out and chatting like old times. I think the main thing is getting her together with girlfriends more often and not having there be these huge gaps between seeing them. Anna and Addison are actually coming to the Women's Christmas Dinner on Friday so Ella will get to see them again real soon!
All the guys sat down in the dining room and played the game Root together.
Just the day before Thankmas, Owen asked if he could invite his friend Daniel. A few weeks before this Daniel and Owen went down to Caleb's house for a game day so Owen knew that Daniel would have fun getting to hang out with him again. Daniel was so sweet he brought a charcuterie board and some sparkling cider.
After a while I was tired of sitting on a folding chair so I migrated up to the first floor. Ga-Ga, Christina and I got the food put away and the dishes started prior to sitting down in the living room to visit some more.
After a bit the other adults came upstairs as well. I've been trying to be better about taking pictures with my parents. Usually I remember to take one with Pa, but then I forget Ga-Ga...probably because she's so busy! Thankfully this time around I remembered!
Once the guys were done with their game they came and joined us in the living room.
As did the girls!
When Bill and Christina mentioned it was time to go I realized we hadn't taken Christmas tree pictures so we snapped some of those real quick.
Papa & Miss Ruth weren't able to make it this year because they took a road trip down to California to see Miss Ruth's family. We missed them, but I was so happy they got to take the trip.
It was SO fun getting to see the Kuch family! I can't wait to get to see them more....we actually get to see them at least 3 times this month! Yay!!!
I love this wonderful family of mine! Even though sometimes we bicker and drive each other crazy it doesn't matter because we're family!
