Saturday Brunch

Deborah and Jeff were kind enough to invite a bunch of family over for brunch this morning. Catharine was in town for Thanksgiving (but no Liddy or Jim, unfortunately). All of the kids had a great time playing and running around, and Hailey and Becca decided that they definitely need to spend more time together. They spent most of their time in various dressed up in various outfits, including a two-headed monster which I really should have posted here instead of this fairly normal looking picture.

The boys weren't really interested in having their picture taken. Or is that obvious?

Catharine managed to get the adults to pose for a picture before most people left. Unfortunately, Melva had to leave before everyone was herded into the living room (and Dad was unable to attend). I don't get to see my uncles John or Ned very often so it was great to be able to talk to them today. Also, Adam and Moody got to engage in a fairly civil political discussion before Cathy came back in the room and said it was time to go (good timing?).

Ben, Alex and Drew spent some time playing in the yard and raking leaves, although they mostly moved leaves from the street back into the yard instead of the other way around. At least it kept them occupied until it was time to go. Afterward, Andy headed over to Cathy's to move her piano to his house. Hopefully, this one won't go missing!

I'm Thankful for...

Thanksgiving Days that are not stressful, and this year we had a fairly low stress day. The big dinner was held at Andy and Carole's, so I didn't have to do any cleaning--great for me, but not so much for them. I handled the turkey, gravy and a cranberry apple pie, Mark made hors d'oeurvres and Carole made stuffing, potatoes, turnips, green bean casserole and more veggies and more hors d'oeurvres (50,000 hors d'oeurvres according to Adam). We had a fairly small group and a LOT of food.

Luckily, the weather was nice in the afternoon so everyone was outside playing for a while until the cold front came through. Andy, Mark, and Adam threw the football and played some Frisbee while I slaved away in the kitchen (not really).

The table was beautiful so I took a picture before we destroyed it.
Andy found a new use for napkin rings after he finished his dinner.

I had to take a picture of this turkey that Alex made at school. The most wonderful thing about this project you can't actually see because it's written in pencil, so I'll just tell you. It says, "I'm thankful for my Aunt Lisa because I love her. Alex." He made my whole week!

Thanksgiving Feast #1

Today was Thanksgiving feast day at Drew's school. He actually had two sessions of Thanksgiving today, since both his morning and afternoon classes hosted a meal for their families. Adam went to the morning feast, and Dad and I went to the afternoon feast. All of the kids had little costumes on to be either Pilgrims or Indians (I mean Native Americans). Drew was an Indian in the morning and a Pilgrim in the afternoon, not that any of the kids really cared one way or another. It was just an excuse to wear silly headgear.

Adam discovered this morning that Drew loves cranberry sauce. He ate two servings at the morning feast and had some more in the afternoon (and nothing else). It's just bizarre what he will and won't eat. Anyway, Dad and I enjoyed our meals even if we only stayed a short while. We were invited back to the classroom for dessert, but I had to get back to work, so we declined. We'll have plenty of desserts in the next week of constant Thanksgiving. Our office is having a Thanksgiving feast for lunch tomorrow, and we're having a Thanksgiving brunch at church on Sunday. Oh yeah, and next Thursday is REALLY Thanksgiving.

Of course, we have lots of things for which we're thankful every day.

Grandma's House - Live Free or Die

Ok, I'm way behind in my posting, plus I just haven't been taking many pictures since Halloween, but thank goodness Pat sent me some pictures from Adam and Drew's trip to New Hampshire. They managed the air travel without a hitch, except for the dying portable DVD player and the confiscation of Adam's toothpaste in Manchester (You've got to watch out for those dangerous dental hygiene products). Luckily, Grandma donated her portable DVD to the cause, and Drew got to watch a movie on the trip back.

Unfortunately, I can't offer much in the way of commentary since I couldn't go, but clearly everyone loved riding Grandma and Grandpa George's ATVs.

George put Adam to work digging up huge rocks in the driveway. Adam tried to tell me that they were boulders, but he has been known to exaggerate.

I don't even want to comment on this picture. I'm SURE that the motor wasn't running at the time. Notice the soon to be completed garage in the background.


I did have a nice weekend seeing friends (and cleaning the house!) while they were gone, but I was glad to have them home at the end of the weekend.