President Barack Obama and his family quietly celebrated Thanksgiving at the White House Thursday and called several members of the armed forces to wish them a happy holiday.
The president chose to have dinner at the Executive Mansion opposed to Camp David, a private retreat in Maryland where most presidents tend to spend the holidays.
President Obama also took some time out to call a total of 10 service members to wish them a happy Thanksgiving and to thank them for their service. Amongst those called were two members from each the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
President Obama also expressed his gratitude on his weekly radio address.
“We give thanks for all our men and women in uniform and for their families who are surely missing them very much today. We are grateful for their sacrifice too.”
It’s not clear who joined the first family for dinner on Thanksgiving, but some of the menu items they enjoyed included turkey, honey-baked ham, cornbread stuffing, oyster stuffing, greens and macaroni and cheese. Dessert consisted of a variety of confections ranging from huckleberry pie, pecan pie and sweet potato pie.