Thanksgiving 2024

The day before Thanksgiving we packed up and headed to Lake Coeur d' Alene around noon. We stopped at Midtown Market to restock my booth before the big shopping weekend. We also got lunch at our favorite Noodles Express. 

Bryn and I did a little Christmas shopping and we bummed around in CDA for a bit.

We love the house that we sometimes rent for Thanksgiving. It is perfect for a cozy holiday weekend. They had the Christmas tree up again which we loved. The lake was looking gorgeous too. 

We unpacked and got settled. Reilly, Hunter, and Karson weren't coming until the next day so we made homemade noodles, ate my Mom's baked brie, prepped food for the next day, and watched a Christmas movie. We talked to Ailey and Luke. They made it safely to Utah and had good roads.

The next morning was Thanksgiving Day. We slept in, enjoyed a leisurely morning of the Macey's Day Parade and The National Dog Show (the Pug won!!), and ate pie for breakfast! 

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition! Thanks Mom!

Our family group chat was popping off with everyone and their activities and our joy that the pug won The National Dog Show!

Way to go Vito!

Tyler had the turkey roasting and we had the rest of the food prepped. I love having Thanksgiving here because it is so relaxed and enjoyable! I set the table and did a bit of holiday decorating. I brought twinkle lights, See's chocolate turkeys, and some decorations from home with me. LOL. Everything turned out pretty. The lake view out the window doesn't hurt either!!

After setting the table Tyler and I did a two mile walk with Beverly.

After we got back, we got ready, and then it was truly time to get things going for our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Reilly, Hunter, and Karson arrived around 2pm. 

Poor Karson wasn't feeling well and was running a low grade fever. He snuggled with his dad and watched some football while the rest of us got dinner going.

All of the Johnsons are fantastic cooks which is so nice when holidays roll around! Lots of helpers in the kitchen and it is fun to cook together. We had the music going and dinner coming together.

Tyler is very precise in his carving! LOL.

Our 2024 Thanksgiving Menu:

Brined and Roasted Turkey (Tyler)

Killer Mashed Potatoes (me)

Mom's Liquid Gold Gravy (me)

Rolls (Bryn)

Pecan Patties (Reilly)

Noodles (me)

Brussel Sprouts (Reilly)

Christa's Sweet Potato Casserole (me)

Mom's Sourdough, Sausage, and Chestnut Stuffing (me)

Cranberry Dip (me)

Granny's Jello Squares (Reilly)

Relish Tray (Bryn)

Pumpkin Pies (me)

Cherry Pies (me)

Pecan Pies (me)

Homemade Whipped Cream (Bryn)

Bubbly to drink.

Bryn also made chex mix to snack on and she and Tyler helped with all of the chopping, slicing, and dicing! Tyler's turkey was amazing! His special brine makes the turkey SO GOOD! I made two new recipes this time...Christa's sweet potato casserole and my Mom's famous stuffing. Both were fantastic! I usually make my grandma's sweet potatoes but after having Christa's sweet potato casserole last Thanksgiving at Kirk's...that is the one I want from now on. As for my Mom's stuffing...I've never made it before and I have missed it. My kids don't enjoy stuffing but at least two of them admitted that it was really good this year and Hunter was a fan too!

After dinner we facetimed with Kameron and Erin. They had gone to Thanksgiving at her aunt and uncle's house. Her parents and some of her siblings were in town too. They had a good time! We also talked to Ailey and Luke. They had gone to Luke's aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving. Luke's siblings and his dad were all there but not his mom. Luke's parents are getting a divorce and his mom was with her side of the family. Luke's Grandma (the one who just lost her husband) and his aunts, uncles, and cousins were really nice and the kids had fun. Unfortunately Ailey had an allergic reaction to all of their animals and was pretty miserable by the end of the night. They had to head to the store for some Zyrtec. She usually is okay and doesn't have too much of a problem if it is only one dog but I guess they had several at the aunt's house. We also talked to my dad, Tyler's mom and sister, and Kirk and Meki too. It seemed like everyone had a good day! 

We all wrote in our Thanksgiving journal and laughed at all of the old entries especially the infamous one from Reilly from when she was 15 and angrily wrote that she "...wasn't thankful for anything!!" Ha ha! Classic! We played games after dinner and watched the new Twisters movie until everyone fell asleep! We had a great Thanksgiving despite missing some of our kiddos. 

The next day was straight relaxation. We slept in...watched movies and football...the Chiefs were playing! Tyler and I took Beverly for a long walk. 

We snacked on leftovers and pie pretty much all day. Bryn and I worked on some crafts. She was doing some gem art and I was making paper stars and medallions. 

Karson was feeling a bit better! The rest of us relaxed, napped, ate, read, and played games.

We played a lot of Skipbo, Tapple, and Violent Spoons! We watched movies and stayed up late again. Another great day for us at Lake Coeur d' Alene!

Meanwhile in Utah...Kameron, Erin, Ailey, and Luke all went to Kirk and Meki's house for their Thanksgiving celebration.

Kirk did his smoked turkey that I love! He and Meki make a lot of my Mom's recipes so the kids felt like they got to eat their traditional Thanksgiving dinner too. Kirk also keeps my Mom's tradition of eating at night like we do by candlelight. If our kids can't be home for Thanksgiving; they like to be at Kirk's. 

They played Violent Spoons too and LUKE won!!! Not a McClellan??!! Not a Johnson??!! Unheard of!

I'm glad that they were all together! I had a great Black Friday sales day at Midtown Market too!

The next morning Tyler and I were up early and facetiming with Ailey and Luke. They had an appointment to look at a wedding venue in Utah early that morning. They loved it! We were able to book it and they picked out their décor, linens, and flowers. Yay! That is a relief! Venues fill up so fast in Utah especially at the end of April. 

Everyone was still at Kirk and Meki's house the next day including Dwight! Kirk and Meki just got a new puppy too; an Irish doodle named Maple. 

We have the cutest granddog!

The kids had fun at Kirk's watching movies and making homemade noodles. Pretty much the exact same thing that we were doing! We talked to all of them several times. It sounded like they were having fun!

Meanwhile back in North Idaho... it was a spectacular day on Lake Coeur d' Alene. The sun was shining brightly and the weather was pretty warm. Reilly made us pumpkin pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast. I ate mine out on the deck in the sunshine!

Look at that blue sky in November!!!

Karson was feeling much better and chowing down on some bacon.

Tyler, Beverly, and I went on our longest walk yet. The sun was shining and it was too gorgeous not to be outside! I enjoyed the view from the deck and read my book snuggled up in my coat and blanket in the sunshine. I love a sunny Thanksgiving! The rest of the family was on a Harry Potter movie marathon. I worked on my paper stars again. Bryn taught herself to crochet and made a little animal for Karson. Way to go Bryn! She's so good at teaching herself all kinds of things. She just watched some YouTube videos and did it!

Reilly cooked for us all day! We were so spoiled. For dinner she made us burritos with homemade tortillas. Amazing! We played more games...lots of card games. Karson was running around by the end of the night.

It was so cozy and fun to be together. No one was looking forward to leaving the next day. It was another late night and lots of laughs!! Small Business Saturday was also a great sales day for me! It was really weird to have Thanksgiving so late this year. 

The next day we packed up and headed home. It was another sunny day and the water was gorgeous! The kids all left Kirk and Meki's too. Ailey and Luke stopped and had lunch at Kameron and Erin's house before driving back to Rexburg. We facetimed with all of them again. I talked to Kirk while I made turkey stock and got the scoop on Thanksgiving from him too. He loved having the kids there. It sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! It's hard to believe that it is now DECEMBER 1ST! I was so happy to come home from Thanksgiving and walk right into a Christmas house!

Bring on CHRISTMAS!!