Sommer's Sunshine: Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was a pretty laid back holiday for us. We spent most of our time hanging out at home and then gathered at my in-laws apartment in the evening. Of course Scotty made his super yummy turkey (using Alton Brown's method) where he brines it for 24 hours before. It always is beautiful, delicious and super moist.

Growing up, our family tradition was to have Thanksgiving dinner by 1pm. We would practically starve all morning long - taunted by the yummy smell of the cooking turkey. We made everything from scratch including special clover-leaf rolls (a McCombs family tradition) and oyster dressing. I loved how we would always eat on special dishes given to us by Grandma McCombs and always made a special ambrosia type fruit salad. Black Olives as a side were always a hit as we'd put them on each of our fingers and eat them.

Creating and experiencing new family traditions has been a fun and different for me. The Hovey family traditions have evolved over time and now that all the kids are grown and some live far away it's become more of a night event....which has been an adjustment for me. I think more because there is less opportunity to eat ALL DAY LONG ;o)

My sister-in-law Chasity (newly appointed Honolulu Police Officer) wasn't gonna be able to make it but ended up getting off work early. So we were happy to pick her up. Uncle Kai always helps with the Kailua High School Thanksgiving Imu. Where he spends most of the day before, all night and Thanksgiving morning watching over and helping with a traditional Hawaiian Imu. It's a fundraiser where they will cook your Thanksgiving turkey and Fixings in the ground overnight. We are always lucky to get some special treats from him to go with our dinner.

My father-in-law is a councilor in his Ward Bishopric and was assigned to preside over the Ward Thanksgiving Dinner that morning. So we ended up meeting in the evening. Unfortunately I forgot to get some pictures. But I did make some homemade rolls the day before. After all you can't have a dinner without homemade rolls!!

The rolls started out beautifully

but I ended up getting side-tracked by some boxes on Craigslist for our move (we had learned a few days earlier that our land lord would be putting our apartment up for sale). Totally scored over 60 used moving boxes for $30 on Craigslist!

I was so glad we got them all to fit in the car (with the stroller in the back).

So my rolls were slightly over proofed. (They turned out yummy anyway).

That night we had a wonderful spread of Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Ham, Stovetop Stuffing, Candied Carrots (made with butter and brown sugar), Rice and veggies. It was good and fun to be with family.

Cousin Ana drew an awesome picture of the back of Hoku. I loved it so much I put it on instagram.

Isn't it a great likeness?

The girls and grandma spent the day decorating for Christmas. So we had a little lighting ceremony in honor of Hoku's first Thanksgiving and Christmas.