Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are my favorite Bryant family Thanksgiving traditions:

Russell and Dad cook the turkey in a trash can in the backyard. Everyone wins - the turkey's juicy, it only takes an hour and a half, and the boys get to play with fire. Beautiful. Here's Russ basting the turkey before setting the can over it and covering it with coals. (I think that's his "whistling face."):

The baked bird: Ta-da!

Mom has a collection of Christmas plates - she gets a new plate, saucer and cup each year. Starting at Thanksgiving, we start using Christmas dishes instead of the normal plates. At some point, we break out the games and play for hours. Playful banter begins... usually culminating in Russ accusing Mom of cheating (which we all know is not true... that makes it more fun). By the middle of this game she was laughing so hard at his antics that she sprayed the table (including the game pieces and "the opposition") with the left-over roll she was eating. Oops! The boys soundly beat us, but there's always next year!
Kitchen towel wars aren't exactly a Thanksgiving tradition at our house, but why not...

It's good to be home.

To all my friends and family out there: Happy Thanksgiving!