thanksgiving at the farm

so, i got an iphone and my whole life changed. i am mildly obsessed with the poloroid picture app. thanks for the idea, lizzie!

i am also mildly obsessed with the northwest. i loved my trip up there for thanksgiving. a fantastic part of the world.

i feel like i added significantly to my winning power on the game "two truths and a lie" during my time on the olympic peninsula. because, among other things, i -

• ate a deer heart
• helped deliver 10 baby piglets
• helped butcher a turkey (then ate it)
• caught crab and ate them 1 hour later
• had elk sausage for breakfast and elk chili for dinner
• got snowed and frozen in while staying in a sort of shack of a house in a random northwestern town

it felt like a very authentic thanksgiving! it's funny how going to my siblings' houses has in a way replaced going home. i get that same feeling of warmth, familiarity, coziness, comfort. it felt like home for the holidays. and it turned out to be quite the adventure!

after our epic road trip, kelsey brought me to the ferry terminal, where jo and aja picked me up and we went straight to the seattle center to see the space neetle. pretty neat.

it was freezing. hit me hard after all these sunny 75 degree days in san fran! that night, we went and did sealings at the seattle temple. it was really cool to perform those ordinances with my brother and sister-in-law. and the temple was gorgeous!

on monday we tried to go to victoria, british columbia. i was dying to go to canada and had heard victoria was so charming and wonderful. well, it started snowing on our drive to the ferry and before we knew it, we were in a legit winter wonderland. and we had missed the ferry. aja is pointing at canada in this picture (obviously).

so we decided to make the most of the weather. aniston was in heaven in the snow.

we went to a yummy little mom-and-pop restaurant in sequim and loooved the hot coco.

and we played in the snow back at the farm. about 5 seconds after i took this picture ana threw that massive snow ball right in cam's face. without any hesitation.

he recovered. and took a long walk with me. jonah's cars (which run on grease) froze overnight and wouldn't start. so we were literally stuck. i took cam and elsie on a walk in the chilly sunshine and the landscape was so rugged and beautiful. camden loved finding these huge masses of snow.

later, we borrowed a neighbor's car to go to the ocean to go crabbing. jonah has become quite the expert, and we got some good ones and brought them home and cooked them right up.

it was so pretty out on the boat. the olympic mountains are sensational.

on wednesday it was time to butcher mr. turkey. aja picked him up on her drive from san francisco to sequim. a great craigslist find. he lived a happy life and got fattened up for thanksgiving. the night before the slaughter we fed him lots of alcohol so his meat would be tender. sweet little turkey, a little tipsy. i told jonah i didn't want to help with killing mr. turkey, but when the time came he just said, "do you want to hold down the head or cut it off? it's up to you." i made the obvious choice. i'll spare the more gory photos.

honestly, it was a cool experience. to see a creature fulfill the purpose of its creation. we killed him in the most humane way possible and we really, really appreciated him. i was glad jonah made me be a part of it. it made me think about where my food comes from and it didn't freak me out like i thought it would. i built a fire to thaw the ground so jonah could dig a pit and after lots of plucking and wrapping up, mr. turkey cooked there for 14 hours.

it warmed up a little and the cars would start, so i went shopping with aja the day before thanksgiving. jonah and aja are the masters of getting free stuff and this is what the car looked like when we got back - all of that food free from the food bank. they remodeled their kitchen for $5. it seriously baffles me the deals they find and the awesome way they live. the best part was that i got a pumpkin pie from the food bank. aja doesn't like it, and i was really struggling with the idea of thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie.

on thanksgiving morning we took another crabbing trip. it was freezing. so i bundled up a little.

i made everyone the greatest pilgrim and indian costumes ever. our cousin aubrey came out from seattle. it was so fun to have her.

we made a list of 1952 things we are thankful for. here we are holding the list. right after we took this picture, aja went to check on luau the pig and we heard her yell, "guys! we have piglets!"

the thanksgiving feast was all ready to be served, the table beautifully set, and luau had gone into labor! two piglets were out before we got there and then we got to watch the rest be born (10 in all). i loved watching aja there, 8 months pregnant herself, in an indian costume (isn't that one-shoulder leopard print tunic to die for?) sitting in the straw cleaning off newborn piglets in the freezing cold. what a woman. birth is a miracle. it was so neat to see.

14 hours wasn't long enough to cook the 42 pound turkey, so we had to let it cook a bit more in the oven and we had our first course of thanksgiving dinner (vegetarian style) while aja was being pig midwife. elsie had had enough of her pilgrim costume by then, so a unicorn came to the table. as we talked about our food sans turkey, she said "i'm not a vegetarian! i'm a unicorn!"

finally mr. turkey was ready. and he was delish. before and after photos -

feast round 2:

then we played with the piglets and watched "elf." what a thanksgiving day!

this is aniston's to-do list for the day after thanksgiving. (ct stands for christmas tree). i think it is a perfect agenda. we did all that plus some.

like riding ana's new horse, coco. it had finally warmed up a bit and i loved trotting around.

and like shooting aja's grandpa's gun. i shot my clay pigeon soaring through the air on my second shot. i was astonished when i hit it. flabbergasted.

and we hung out with the piglets, one of which was named "cheech" after the favourite aunt (me).

we didn't have a truck to put the christmas tree in, and didn't want to bother tying it to the roof, so we hitched on the boat and hauled it home that way. jonah and aja buy a living tree and plant it on the farm after christmas.

i think the day after thanksgiving is purely for christmas decorating, not shopping. we got the shack looking pretty magical.

i love these guys so much, and the unconventional life they live. they are so fun to be with and always up for an adventure. i am really lucky to be related to such devastatingly cool people.

thanksgiving at the farm - swell. i have so much to be thankful for!!! like doting nieces and nephew, slippers and hot water bottles that kept me from freezing to death, and the fact that jonah didn't tell me it was deer heart until after i ate it!