Every year we swap Thanksgiving and Christmas with each of our families. This year was the Ellis' turn for Thanksgiving, so 5 of the 9 siblings gathered at Joy's house in Austin for feasting and fun.
Rob and I flew in Thanksgiving morning (and we were very thankful for JetBlue and direct flights from Boston to Austin) and were welcomed by the smells of a smorgasbord of delectable delicacies that Joy had been preparing all morning. Then we got right to work helping her finish dinner preparations for her houseful of 18 people.
Because Joy only has one oven and because we were making about 10 other side dishes, Joy and Darrell decided to borrow their friend's deep fryer for the turkey. Rob got to be Darrell's turkey-fryer sidekick and has now vowed that he will be in charge of all future Thanskgiving turkeys as long as he can use one also.
And I have to say, I am absolutely converted to the idea; our fried turkey came out incredibly moist and delicious...and we were glad to eat it for 2 (or 3) meals a day until we left on Sunday.
Joy and Darrell also happen to have the coolest backyard ever, that includes a trampoline, a huge fort/jungle-gym, soccer goals, and even a 9-hole putt putt golf course! We were all out there trying to beat the course record that stands at 16. Although we had flashes of brilliance, neither of us even came close.
In the end, it was great to spend a few days with family we don't see nearly as often as we would like. We are so thankful for our wonderful families and although we don't have a putt putt golfcourse in our backyard (in fact, we don't even
have a backyard) if anyone wants to get together before the summer, we do have a spare bedroom here in Boston! :)
Rob and I flew in Thanksgiving morning (and we were very thankful for JetBlue and direct flights from Boston to Austin) and were welcomed by the smells of a smorgasbord of delectable delicacies that Joy had been preparing all morning. Then we got right to work helping her finish dinner preparations for her houseful of 18 people. 
Because Joy only has one oven and because we were making about 10 other side dishes, Joy and Darrell decided to borrow their friend's deep fryer for the turkey. Rob got to be Darrell's turkey-fryer sidekick and has now vowed that he will be in charge of all future Thanskgiving turkeys as long as he can use one also. 
And I have to say, I am absolutely converted to the idea; our fried turkey came out incredibly moist and delicious...and we were glad to eat it for 2 (or 3) meals a day until we left on Sunday.
Joy and Darrell also happen to have the coolest backyard ever, that includes a trampoline, a huge fort/jungle-gym, soccer goals, and even a 9-hole putt putt golf course! We were all out there trying to beat the course record that stands at 16. Although we had flashes of brilliance, neither of us even came close. 
In the end, it was great to spend a few days with family we don't see nearly as often as we would like. We are so thankful for our wonderful families and although we don't have a putt putt golfcourse in our backyard (in fact, we don't even have a backyard) if anyone wants to get together before the summer, we do have a spare bedroom here in Boston! :)
