Happy Turkey Day to one and all! Our holiday was warm and wonderful, the food was great the family bouncy, and we even completed our annual improbably project! Huzzah!

What is this imporbably project, you may ask? Well, the first year we moved into this house there was no kitchen. Okay, there was a room that had been a kitchen at one point but was now simply a play yard for enormous cockroaches and other icky things with way to many legs. Our first improbably project was to have a kitchen for Thanksgiving. The day before T-day we installed a fridge and stove and sink (and built the counters that would hold said sink). We painted the walls and scrubbed the floors and bought a garbage can. And Turkey Day dawned bright and happy and the 18 guests we invited enjoyed the meal!

The second year in our home we thought, soooooo....we have a kitchen. We need a dining room! The previous owners had bashed holes in the walls of the dining room and cut a hole in the floor (to install a toilet. Don't ask). We had been using it as a tool room and so there were piles of sharp pointy things, and tangles of extension cords, and snow drifts of sawdust about the room. The day before T-day we cleared out the room, we painted the walls, we faux finished one wall, we scrubbed and dusted and cleaned and hung furniture and ceiling lights and art on the walls (though Mike did all the heavy stuff since I was getting on in my pregnancy). And T-day dawned bright and happy and the 15 guests we had invited enjoyed the meal on folding tables in our shiny new dining room.

This year the goal was a dining room table. Mike found some rough hewn walnut at a salvage yard, bought some 4 inch and 6 inch wide oak planks, and had at. And the table was a masterpiece of cool and awesome woodwork and it was finished some four hours before the turkey came out of the oven! So T-day dawned without a table, but the day ended with happy folk sitting round a brand new family heirloom. Which Laia then chewed on. So all was well....

Enjoy the pictures and the memories!

Turkey Day isn't Turkey Day without food so Laia started early in the morning to plan the holiday menu...

...something with eggs, perhaps?

Here Laia demonstrates the tools of the culinary trade.

As the day wound on and the kitchen became a little too busy for little chefs to participate, Laia began making the rounds of all the fun and exciting laps available to her...

First she explored the familiar realm of the Bubkha...

Then she decided to move on to the new adventures offered by her Grandma Pat...

Some laps brought about wild mirth, others a more soothing nap. But what else is a holiday for?

Finally the food was on the table (just look at that awesome table!). Mmmmmm....yummy!

Laia kicked back in her high chair and kept us all amused with her fascinating stories.

Those tales of tiny tot adventure continued throughout the night as Laia related her opinions on current affairs and the wonderful dinner she's shared with her family.

It's amazing, this whole "gravity" thing. Did you know that if you drop a spoon on the floor it will magically reappear in your hand if an adult is nearby? How odd! And this chair! So tasty! So high in fiber and filled with yummy goodness!

Laia might have enjoyed chewing on her high chair, but the rest of us were pretty pleased with the Rice Pudding, Apple-Cranberry pie, and Squash Pie. The wine was excellent as well. And just look at that table!

As the snow fell outside, Laia took an after dinner nap with puppy, dreaming about next years improbably projects.

Sleep well all and we'll see you next year!