For Thanksgiving this year, we had an open invitation Thanksgiving for anyone and everyone that didn't have a place to go or family to celebrate with. Kevin and I kept going back and forth on what to do for Thanksgiving. He invited a few people from work that are unaccompanied and I wanted to invite a few close friends. We compromised by deciding to open it up to everyone, accompanied and unaccompanied. Everyone we came across, we asked if they had Thanksgiving plans, and if they said no, then we invited them to our dinner.
A small miracle happened with the location, it was actually really neat. Kevin went to the Mustang Center a week before Thanksgiving to see if we can reserve the Mustang Center Multipurpose room. He walked in and asked if the room was available, he was told that he was about the 30th person to ask, but it was actually available because the Mustang Center personal thought the center was closed for the day, and just a few minutes before Kevin came in, they were informed by their boss that the building will be open and the room is available to reserve.
We ended up having about 70 people for the Thanksgiving dinner. We had over 20 unaccompanied, over 20 kids, and about 10 couples. There were about 5 main families that came and each brought a full Thanksgiving dinner with them. We were originally so worried about not having enough food, but there was such an outpouring of love and service from the families that there was plenty of food, and actually enough food to send plates of leftovers with all the unaccompanied. The food was absolutely delicious! There were 6 fully cooked turkeys, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, rolls, jello, salads, sweet potatoes and so much more.
The kids had such an amazing time. My really good friend and co-organizer, Corianne Schwartz set up some super cute crafts for the kids. They took time at the beginning to make some centerpieces for the tables, it was a super cute pumpkin made out of toilet paper. Corianne also provided a craft table with paper and crayons. The kids also ran and played around the perimeter of the room while all the adults talked and ate. I think they all just loved spending time with their close friends.
After everyone had eaten firsts, seconds, and thirds, we brought out card games and board games and everyone played games, talked, visited and laughed. There were so many groups of people playing games all around the room. It seemed as if everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We ended up staying so long, that the Mustang Center worker came in and said we had to start cleaning up. Everyone helped to clean, and it was all taken down and clean in less then ten minutes. I am so grateful for amazing friends that made this a wonderful Thanksgiving as we were able to be together and serve those airmen and women who sacrifice so much to be here without their families. It was a day that was filled with much love and service.
I know our kids are grateful for such good friends too. We seriously have the best of friends here and our kids are best friends too. I love being part of the military and moving and meeting the salt of the earth. I am humbled to be among such amazing people. I am so thankful for being in South Korea this Thanksgiving.
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