Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am so thankful every aspect of my life. Sure things could be easier or different but I must say that I am a very blessed person. Myself and my family are in good health and really that is a major blessing. Braylon is a health, happy and very social 14 month old. I really could not ask for more. Today was a prefect day for sitting back (even though I barely sat all day) and enjoying my family. This was the first year for Colin and I to host dinner and over all festivities. And in true Esswein fashion the day had an enormous amount of food, football and yes even some fighting and tears (to be fair it was among the kids, but Braylon did have a few moments). I started out the morning by baking. I made the pumpkin cheesecake yesterday morning so it could cool. So I had to make a sweet potato pie and cookies. I was up at 6 am to get it all started so Colin and the turkey could have the over. It was so nice to be up getting stuff ready.

i have only made the sweet potato pie once and I had the luxury of time and the oven. That was not the case today. So instead of baking the potato's first I had to boil them. This made the puree have a few more lumps than I would have liked. However, it turned out perfect and the lumps were cooked away.

Yummy!

 I made a big batch of cookies for the kids to snack on after dinner. Kids always want to eat and cookies are the perfect thing to keep them happy!

When I had finished baking, Braylon had yet to wake up. He slept until 9am!!!! Since I had some apples that were getting mushy, I decided to try this mini apple fritter recipe I had found a few days ago. Let me tell you, they are AMAZING. I could not have wished for a better turn out!

They were even better straight out of the fryer!

Colin's mom came over for breakfast and watching the parade. The Macy's paradde was one of my dad's favorite things about this holiday (Thanksgiving was his favorite and we always spent it with him). While watching the parade we had our traditional breakfast of french toast and this year added in the fritters.

 Yes, it tastes as good as it looks!

Next up was the hot spinach and artichoke dip I created. This was our 'snack' while dinner was finishing up. Now this picture does not do the dish any justice at all! It was amazing. I was completely impressed, especially since I had screwed it up!

 I do not have pictures of the dinner. I got hungry and decided to eat rather than take pictures. But Colin's sister Stephanie came over with her boyfriends four children to eat with us. She also made the rolls, stuffing and relish plate. Colin made the turkey, gravy and green bean casserole. I made the mashed potatoes and sliced the cranberries (I know I am skilled). It was a really good dinner and I am looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

Now to the most important thing, Braylon has a ball today. He got to eat sweets literally all day long. I swear the kid had about 10 chocolate chip cookies (okay in my defense he takes like two bites of one and then gets distracted and loses it so I had him another).

Chilling with Dad eating a cookie!

 Oh and he LOVES whipped cream! He 'stole' it off of every one's plate!!

He also had a ball playing with the other kids. Braylon loves big kids and he followed them everywhere. I loved it because I got to cook in peace and breath a little!

I hope everyone had a great day. Remember what you have and are blessed with. Let the people in your life know what they mean.

Now to get ready for Christmas!