The Dinner

The Thanksgiving dinner came and went, going as planned. Everyone had a wonderful time, even if it rained a little in between. Here are some photos I got in between trying to run the whole show of  getting dinner on. 

Thanksgiving day in Belize is not a holiday. Hopefully it will be someday, but as it isn't, it makes no sense having the dinner on what is a work day. We decided the best day would be to do it on  a Sunday.

 Before dinner the children and men were enjoying outdoor games of archery, croquet and king's base.

 The young girls playing dishes and dolls.

All the married men enjoying a game of croquet. 

 The youngest family member that got a little overwhelmed at times. Naomi won't be the youngest for long though!

 I am sorry my camera didn't seem to cooperate well yesterday. But you can sort of see what's going on. This is king's base.

 Here is Miss Photo expert. I would have liked to put her photos on my blog...

 A fancy dinner deserved fancy table setting. We had four tables set up in this small house and everyone was able to sit down (relatively) comfortably to enjoy the meal.  Following are closeups of the food served.

 Stuffing, made from scratch by Doris. It was a hit. So original and tasty. 

 The turkey. I will not buy a 22 lb turkey again, even though we had sawed it in half to bake it faster. It was all right for this time though.

 Cranberry jelly.

 Sweet corn brought by Lupita.

 Sweet potato casserole that is a must for a thanksgiving dinner planned by me. The recipe called for pecans in the topping, but I decided to put a Belizean twist to it and added coconut instead. It worked just as well and tasted great, not to mention a huge saving.

 Sparkling cider drinks bought by Delia and Jacob. Non-alcoholic, don't worry!

 Mashed potatoes by Lizzie. Also made from scratch with cream cheese. So good.

 Gravy. Some said it was the best part of the dinner! 

 The young boys got this neat little table. Joseph, Joshua, Josiah and Timothy.

 We fashioned a table for all the princesses. Starting from left bottom corner: Amorette, Ashely, Jasmine, Sienna, Jessica and Mirielle. Boy, I mean girl, do I feel rich when it comes to nieces! About the only thing I forgot to do was light their floating candles! It might have been just as well, as this way there were no burned fingertips.

 Yeah, dinner was that much fun! I have such a great family. Lupita and Tim, Doris and Franco.

 More nephews and nieces. Delroy, Tracey, Samuel and Delaney.

 Carl and Lizzy, Henry and Linda.

 Jacob and Delia.

 And this is you know who.

 Hmm yumm; that pumpkin pie was the first thing this boy was asking for when dinner time came.

 That bucket of whipped topping was a real treat! My sister had made too much but it was ok. My brothers had fun all right. It was eaten by itself, on pie, and put in coffee.

 Sweet Amorette.

 Delaney had the idea to bake cookies which she brought and then helped the young ones decorate. They had a blast.

 After the dishes there were indoor games of boggle and blokus. Does anyone see a fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers? Hehe.

This one's especially for Grandma. A memory game played by most of the younger ones. I enjoyed seeing how well they all cooperated.

 

That was our thanksgiving dinner and celebration. I hope you all enjoyed the photos.  We sure enjoyed the evening. It was well worth all the effort I spent into getting ready for it.

I thank everyone for participating and making it an enjoyable evening!