A Tennessee Thanksgiving

Tennessee bound, we made our way through the twisty roads of West Virginia and spotty holiday traffic this past Wednesday with one thing in mind, a taste for "Hugh Nichols Smoked Thanksgiving Ham". Yes, that is its official name, and if anyone reading this blog has had the privilege of tasting his juicy masterpieces they can attest to the fact that all other ham forever loses its appeal. My dad was apparently in a traditional mood this year, so he promised a smoked Turkey that could rival the ham for Thanksgiving dinner (and a ham on Saturday for our troubles).

We were a rather small group this year with my sister visiting her husband's family, and my aunt and uncle in Florida, so we were excited to have my dad's friends Linda and Benny join us for dinner. Linda prepared a very "sex and the city-esque" white cranberry cosmopolitan for each of us girls before dinner.

I am still in shock at finding this in my Grandmother's hands even if it was only one small sip;)!

And whats this? Do real men really drink cosmos?

Anyhow, what would Thanksgiving be without the classic daddy carving picture?

What a beauty she was! She tasted "pretty good" too Daddy;)!

Accompanied by Jackie's tasty side dishes, the turkey filled our bellies to the "pants unbuttoned" kind of full, and we all relaxed and let the inevitable sleepiness overtake us. Luckily, Linda went home after dinner and came back accompanied by her new baby Corgis, Charlie and Bella. You can guess where our renewed attention went for the rest of the evening. The hard part was allocating ear scratches and tummy rubs evenly between the two.

As my dad finished carving the Turkey leftovers, a wishbone appeared with J.R.'s and my names on it. It being our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, I thought about going easy on him...

Clearly he had the same thing on his mind...

Fortunately, sometime later we reconciled, kissed and made up (but for the record, I got the wish!)

A few mornings later, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise worthy of some further attention, so my dad, J.R., Max and I decided to take a drive to a local farm/make-shift shooting range.

Max can be a tricky dog to keep in eye sight when he gets a rare opportunity to roam without his leash, and before I could utter one word of disapproval, he found what I can only assume is some semblance of doggie heaven in a huge puddle of mud.

I hope it was well worth a bath in 40 degree weather the next day, Maxwell!

As usual, our Tennessee Thanksgiving did not disappoint. I hope everyone had an eventful and happy weekend as well :). I am thankful for the many roofs over our heads, including our own, this year, for
friends and family to spend the important and the not so important days with:), and the continued health of all of our loved ones. I am mindful of those who are unable to spend the holidays with family and appreciate their sacrifices. Happy Thanksgiving to all!