Gobble gobble, toil and no trobble!

What a day! Turkey tail of an evening that went reasonably well.

A lot of family stuff is best kept in the family. That being said, we had our share of bumps and bruises but came through with a new look for the core 5, the latest configuration of the Schmidt's.
Mom - three siblings - and Dad. Arranged in that order for the blog, but you know by now there is no order.
We all made it to and through dinner.
We even had enough food to bring a new friend of mine to the table, which is a really good antidote for too much family bonding. However, Gary and his wife, Mary, could not make it and that saddened me greatly, he was not well at all, and there is so little I can do about that, but pray for him and ask you to do so as well.

Great quote of the day:
Jared (18) "I am thankful that Thanksgiving only comes once a year!"
Hannah gets a big 'dad sized' pat on the back for helping set the table and helping do the dishes. She also had a strategic place at the dining table between her mom and Jared. I did not plan seating, but it worked out ( i think) My new friend Mark was a pleasant addition with tales of his own, and a really great laugh when Amy showed him my flat sour dough bread.
Oren was a terrific help in the kitchen all morning and got the area clean and organized so I could cook 1 apple pie, 1 turkey and five side dishes, we put Jared in charge of the relish tray since he loves olives, at the last minute I found NO cork puller, and Mark came through with that. Bravo! We ate we drank, we made it look merry.
The First Thanksgiving together for this bunch in TEN years.
I am sure pictures will appear on web sites ( maybe even this one) of people and food and more food.
I only had one failure to cook, and it was the Pumpkin pies, Darn you SaraLee!