We got up early on Thanksgiving morning and Mark, Lauren, Ryan, Stephanie, and I were out the door by 8:30. Giovanni spent Thanksgiving with his family and came up in the evening. We went to McDonalds and got breakfast and realized we had forgotten the pop we were going to take, so we made a stop back at home and were on our way. We got to my Mom and Dad's before noon. Linda, Wayne and Michael got there a few minutes after we did. Matt and Katie had gone up the night before. Bruce had been on call the night before, so they came up after he got off work. They arrived in the afternoon. The only dogs that were there were Ernie, Buzz, and Stink. They all got along well.
We congregated mostly in the kitchen, talking, drinking, and snacking on shrimp cocktail brought by Linda and a yummy cheese ball made by Katie. We had the Macy's parade on the tv and then football the rest of the day.
I had decided I wanted to take our Christmas card picture outside and Lauren had made signs for us to hold up that spelled out Happy Holidays. The weather did not cooperate though and Kristen and my hair was blowing in our face. The signs were also getting blown all over the place. I will post the pics and flubs at the end of this post. We decided on a shot that was taken with all of us sitting on the steps of the deck. I will post that pic in a later post as I don't want to spoil the surprise of our card. Katie, Matt's fiance took the pics and did a great job.
My Mom and Dad were hard at work in the kitchen. It was finally time to eat!! Before dinner, Mark usually says the prayer. This year he could not get one word out without choking up. Finally my Mom took over and said a very sweet prayer about everyone being around for a long time. Mark gave my Mom a big hug and thanked her. The dinner was so delicious and filling. Turkey and gravy, dressing, homemade noodles, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, jello salad, dried corn, deviled eggs, crescent rolls, pumpkin rolls, and cranberry sauce. What a carbfest! We didn't have dessert until later but when we did we had, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, nut pie, cookies, and a chocolate pudding,oreo,cool whip dessert.
We played games after dinner. The first game is called Left Right Center. We play it around the dining room table. Everyone starts out with three $1 bills. In a nutshell, you take turns rolling three dice that have L R C or a dot on them. If you roll L R or C, you give a dollar to the person on the left, right, or in the pot in the middle. A dot means your dollar is safe. You just keep going around the table until the last person with money wins the pot. Stephanie won the first game and Lauren won the second. It is really fun and we all laugh so hard. The next game was Catch Phrase and it was fun too.
Gio got there in the middle of that game and we all kind of pooped out after that because everyone wanted to talk to him. We still had fun sitting around the table talking and laughing.
Lauren was really tired that day and tried so hard to participate. A few times she had to go sit down, put her feet up and wrap up in a blanket. The Xeloda is really making her so tired this time. Thank goodness she only has to take it until tomorrow.
Everyone stayed overnight except for Mark, Stephanie, and I. Steph had to be at work at Macy's at 4:30 in the morning, and we had to get home to take care of our doggies. Ryan, Lauren and Gio stayed overnight the next night too and came home Saturday.
Here are some pics from Thanksgiving. The first one is of Katie, Wo, and Stephanie. All so pretty!
One of the good ones.
Not paying attention.
Good one except for Sis's hair.
Wo having a hard time. I look like I have broken out into a song, and who knows what Sis and Bruce are looking at. Mark is the only one staying on task!
This is the pose that will be our card. Not this one, but a better one. Buzz jumped in the picture here and Sis is getting him the heck out. Haha.
My sister's family. So cute.
Ryan and Stephanie. Adorable.
Busy in the kitchen.
Grandma Tommie in her huge pantry.
Still in the kitchen.
We will be heading to Michigan next Tuesday for Lauren's CT scan. We will see her doctor the next day and decide what to do next. Please pray for good scan results. It is such a difficult and nerve wracking time. We are praying for a Christmas miracle. Many prayers to all others who are living with illness. Until next time... Love, -Pam
No comments:
Post a Comment