How long does it take to cook a 45 pound turkey?

My mom decided to grow her own turkeys this year. She started with 6 poults (a baby turkey) in May and they grew and grew. Unfortunately 2 died somewhere along the way, maybe the sat on each other or drowned, so that left 4.
The day of Thanksgiving I had to work, so my family graciously agreed to celebrate on Saturday. Brian and my mom had fun with the turkeys. They had to slaughter two turkeys, pluck and prepare and get them all ready to cook. What a job. I'm sorry I missed it. :)

Here is the turkey, all cleaned and ready for stuffing. 45 pounds!! A bit large, I agree. But, it fit in the oven (see the picture below) and cooked for about 12 hours.


We had plenty of leftovers...

New Traditions!

This year, Brian and I and my mom all decided to throw some money together and rent a house at Black Butte, a resort about 8 miles from Sisters, Oregon. So, instead of buying Christmas presents for my sister's kids, we are all staying up in the snow for a few nights!! It was a great idea and was a lot of fun! The first day we got there it was pretty nasty, rainy out. But then God brought the SNOW! We woke up to find a fresh coat of snow the next day. And of course we played most of the day.


Above is a picture of the great room in the house. A really comfortable room, complete with a big enough table for 8 (we had 9 in our group) and a fireplace. And televisions in every bedroom! Not that we needed that.
Below is the morning of snow. I love snow and really miss being in Juneau were it is a more common occurance than in Portland, OR.


A picture of the "Black Butte" a small hill that can be climbed. It was a pretty spectacular day! Complete with blue sky and everything. Who knew there was a tornado coming on in Aumsville, OR, only 10 miles from my mom's home.


Sledding fun! Of course we found a hill on the golf course that worked just perfectly for our needs. Brian and the boys all decided to pile on and go down the hill together.


There were a few houses and trees with Christmas lights and I thought they looked so pretty with the snow!