We Hosted Thanksgiving

Hebrews 13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it."

Hospitality is something that I enjoy, that I haven't participated in much.  Largely because I've spent my adult life in dorm rooms, my parent's spare room, and teeny apartments.  Now that we live in a duplex and have a little more space, I have been able to practice hospitality more often.  This year we had to travel to the west side of the state for my brother's engagement party (that turned out to be a surprise wedding!) the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  We typically travel in the other direction to spend Thanksgiving with Philip's family.  We didn't want to do so much driving especially with our little guy in tow, so we offered up our home as the place for the Arnold's to feast.  To my surprise, they took us up on the offer.  There were eight of us total.  Now, cooking is probably the part of hospitality that I get the least excited about.  Luckily, Philip's dad volunteered to do pie and turkey.  Philip and I just needed to make the snacks and side dishes.  I had so much fun getting my hands into all the little details and trying to make the day special.

My simple centerpiece.

One of my favorite touches:  I hung a piece of paper with each guest's name on it and instructed people to write what they were thankful for about each other on them.  I sent them home with the guests at the end of the evening.  

What's on the menu...

I got into teacher mode and made everyone do this Thanksgiving Madlib.  I was literally like, "I'm forcing everyone to do an activity."  There was some grumbling, and I did have to explain verbs and adjectives more than once, but I think that everyone secretly enjoyed it.  The results were pretty humorous.

We made two special cocktails:  Cranberry Moscow Mules and Caramel Apple Sangria (not pictured because we didn't have a pretty pitcher so it just went in an ugly non-photogenic plastic jug).

Emerson with Grandpa.

Emerson with Grandma.

My brother Connor also joined us because he wanted to stay on this side of the state so he could go to the Apple Cup.

I thought that the day was an overall success, and can't wait until I get another opportunity to hone my hosting skills.