YAKIMA, Wash. -- This Thanksgiving, let's just be grateful members of the Carpenter family didn't freeze their toes off.

About 20 relatives and friends of Scott and Carol Carpenter jumped in the pool at the couple's East Valley home before enjoying their Turkey Day dinner.

"This is scary. I hope it doesn't kill me," said Kathleen Gunvaldson, Carol's mother, as she walked to the pool with a bunch of equally hesitant jumpers.

The post-dip report?

"I lived to tell about it," said the 64-year-old Gunvaldson.

Scott Carpenter decided that Gunvaldson needed to be part of the polar bear plunge -- which was his idea -- because she called to tell the Yakima Herald-Republic that the event was taking place.

The family just finished the pool in September. For some of the jumpers, including Gunvaldson, it was their first time in.

The experience, although memorable, wasn't as bad as it might seem, several participants said.

Steven Gunvaldson started off with a straight-ahead approach -- diving straight into the pool and heading for the ladder on the other side.

"Oh my dear goodness," he said upon exiting the 40-degree water into the 42-degree air. He quickly added, "Holy Faaa-waa-haa," or something like that.

The rest of the jumpers followed. None bothered to dally in the pool, leaving as quickly as they submerged.

"The concrete was colder than the pool," said 11-year-old Katie Grubenhoff.

Bill Kroner, 45, of Yakima, could be called a veteran of this sort of chilly experience. He grew up in Wisconsin, where he and relatives would jump in a pond at their house once the ice broke in the spring.

The water temperature there was 33 degrees.

He's got some advice for the rest of the Carpenter clan, which may make the icy dip an annual tradition.

"Get the hot tub going," Kroner said after leaving the pool.