CHRISTMAS 2013

The first order of business yesterday, was to get up, and get over to Marc, Chandra, & Laila's house, knowing that Santa Claus had already paid them a visit.   By the time we arrived, everyone was out of bed, and Laila was all over her new Barbie house, complete with two elevators.  We waited to open all of the presents until later, after we had finished breakfast.  Patty made a french toast casserole, and Claudia made an egg casserole that's called something else.  Both were delicious!
 

After breakfast, and after we put the turkey in the new Bradley Smoker, Laila became the distributor of gifts.  There were plenty to go around, and it wasn't very long before the front room was filled with empty boxes and wrapping paper.

Of course, Miss Laila received the most gifts, ranging from lots of new clothes, to a new Barbie Motor Home from Grandma & Grandpa.  By the time the space under the tree was empty of brightly colored, gift wrapped boxes, everyone had something new.
 

 

 Laila and Mom were busy fixing some fruit for breakfast.

The 10 pound turkey went in the smoker a little after 10am, and after cooking for a little under 5 hours, it came out nice and brown, and looked delicious.  This being our first experiment with the new contraption, we relied more on the meat thermometer that was stuck in the breast.  It read 170, and was done perfectly, but part of the lower bird wasn't quite done.  After Patty carved off the breast meat, the rest of the bird went into the oven for another hour. 
 

I think I'm going to like this new way of cooking meat, as the turkey breast was nothing short of incredibly good!.  It was moist, it had a distinctive smoky flavor, and the taste was far different than your average oven cooked turkey.

 Miss Laila in her new cowgirl outfit from Aunt Claudia, and Uncle Marty.

The day spent with part of our family was about as good as it gets, and would have only been better, if our other two boys, Mike & David, could have been with us.  We have a lot to be grateful for, and yesterday was a truly special time with our loved ones.