Kelsea Ballerini’s Thanksgiving: First Turkey, Karaoke, and Family Love 🦃🎶
Kelsea Ballerini opened her home — and her heart — this Thanksgiving, celebrating with boyfriend Chase Stokes, Kenny Chesney, her mom, and a close circle of friends, including songwriter Alysa Vanderheym.
In a Nov. 29 Instagram post, the country star shared a carousel of 15 photos from the Nashville gathering. The post captured everything from her first-ever attempt at cooking a turkey (which she humbly rated a “5/10”) to a rowdy late-night round of “Thanksgiving karaoke” in front of her Christmas tree — which she happily scored “1000/10.”
“Grateful for so so much, mostly the love that we get and we give away. 🤍,” she captioned.
The photos showed sweet moments: Stokes hugging her from behind as she presented her turkey, a cozy couch scene with friends (and her dog Dibs front and center), and a heartfelt kitchen snapshot with Chesney, her former tour mate.
But perhaps the most meaningful part of the holiday was celebrating with Dibs, her 9-year-old dog who is battling inoperable heart cancer. Dressed in glasses and a red sweater, the pup enjoyed his ninth Thanksgiving. “Thankful this little dude had his 9th Thanksgiving,” Ballerini wrote on her Stories. “He’s my little turkey forever.”
With food, friends, family, music — and Dibs by her side — Ballerini’s Thanksgiving wasn’t about perfection, but about gratitude, love, and memories that matter most.