First, and most importantly, is the food. Mama Dear makes the best oven-roasted turkey. She also makes each of us our favorite side dish. Mine is collard greens, May-May’s is sweet potato soufflé, and Mik’s is green bean casserole. Then, our husbands have their faves: Hubba-luv likes turkey, Thinker likes corn pudding, and Music Man likes dressing. Mama Dear likes cakes and pies. Daddy’O likes cranberry sauce, fresh sliced onions & tomatoes, and lacy bread (fried cornbread). In the recent past, my dad has also provided boston butt, which is a nice back-up when we run out of turkey.
Second, is the family photo shoot. We scout outdoor locations and start with the girls. Next, we add the spouses. Then, we move the spouses and add the parents. It’s the husbands’ favorite activity. So much so, they try to hide from us.
Third is when the real shooting begins: Target practice. Daddy’O sets up the skeet machine while we set up paper targets and load our guns. Blowing through ammunition is a nice way to spend an afternoon.
Finally, the evening ends with karaoke. Hubba-luv and Thinker run away screaming at this point and usually wind up outside near the beer cooler. We pull out the machine, microphones, and CDs. When we’ve run through most of those songs, Music Man and I pull out our guitars and I try to keep up while we play/sing some more.
