We celebrated Thanksgiving a little differently this year. Instead of cooking a Thanksgiving feast at home, we went out to eat at a buffet restaurant. I know, I know, it sounds kind of lame, but we'd thought about it for awhile and decided it'd be a good choice for our family this year.
We had heard from some friends who go every year to this particular buffet, that they have the typical Thanksgiving foods plus lots of other things which sounded perfect for our family. You see, it's just me and Scott and the kids in Utah, and my dad who was visiting for a few days. Scott's parents and siblings and my parents and siblings all live in other states and on top of that, most of us don't like turkey or meat, and the kids don't like mashed or sweet potatoes or green beans or stuffing or any of the traditional stuff so it just didn't make sense to spend hours cooking a huge meal that most of the family wouldn't eat. I don't mind leftovers for a day or two, but in years past, we'd have left overs for at least a week, sometimes more and then we'd end up throwing some away.
Our friends also warned us that we should go around 11am because the line is the shortest then, but even at that time to expect to wait an hour....and we did. We got there around 1130 and got in at 1230. The place was packed all day and apparently they are every Thanksgiving. And I can see why because the variety and all the foods were just great. Our kids ate free which was nice(two were young enough to be free and two had free meal passes from school)I loved the huge salad bar. The girls loved the pizza. Scott and my dad seemed to like most everything and Charles and Jane each found some things they enjoyed as well.
Later that evening Scott made a caramel apple pie and stuffing, and I made a small batch of mashed potatoes and yams just because I'd picked some of these items up earlier in the week for really cheap. It wasn't a big deal, we were probably in the kitchen cooking for half hour. I only made enough potatoes to have leftovers for a day which was nice. I really wasn't very hungry and didn't eat much at dinner, but the kids were ready for another meal and ate some chicken nuggets my dad bought while here with a little mashed potatoes. While sitting at the dinner table we went around and everyone said a few things they were grateful for. It's always fun to hear what the kids come up with. Overall it was a really nice Thanksgiving. And I wouldn't mind going to a buffet on Thanksgiving again next year!
I didn't do any Black Friday shopping this year; I think I'm getting too old for that :). But we did put up our Christmas tree, lights and decorations. I love Christmas and all the decorations and preparations involved!
(sorry the picture is awful; but this one is better than the one's we took of the outside of the house. I think we need a fancier camera to take pictures in the dark)
