Thanksgiving Day

For Thanksgiving Day, we were invited to Chupps for lunch. When we got there at 11, their Aunt Lois and Uncle Eldon (is that his name?) were there already. Ryan and Charmaine were coming too.

It was almost time to eat when a strange truck pulled up in their driveway. As we were all craning around to see who it was somebody shouted, "It's Joel and Rosa!" Joel's were planning to stay home for the holiday, but decided to surprise the Chupps by coming out. The Chupps were ecstatic. :)

Around 3:30, we headed west for the Grice family gathering at my uncle Bob's house. Uncle Bob and Diane's house is really small so we weren't exactly looking forward to cramming in with all those people. Thankfully, the house has a good sized basement that they opened up for eating. 

We left the Grices about 6:30 to stop by Uncle Mike and Aunt Holly's for a quick visit. The "quick visit" turned into a couple hours! We were having such a nice time that we didn't leave till quarter to 9. :) After a long day, we finally got home around 10:30.

Making Pilgrim hats

The guys visiting

Abi and Valeria worked on setting the tables up. They did a fantastic job!

My job was heating dinner rolls.

Don smoked a turkey. Abi took this picture through the window screen.

The blanketed bird

They had such a wide variety of pies!

Coffe station

The skin kept sliding off the turkey, so Don had used hair pins to secure it.  :)

It seems like the turkey is always the focal point for the guys. They all like to stand around sampling and giving advice.

The food line. The clock looks like it says 12:45. We Grices hadn't eaten breakfast (except for KK) so we were starving. This ended up being the only meal that most of us had that day.

The "grown-up's" table

The "young people's" table

Caleb and Valeria didn't want to be in the picture...

The "little boy's" table :)

Abi's plate

Two thumbs up and one down for Matthias' dessert. :)

Abi's dessert

Dad, Mom and Boaz 

After lunch, I was really cold for some reason.

Remains of the dessert

Annabelle showed up partway through our meal so she pulled a chair up to visit.

What's left of the mashed potatoes...

The turkey carcass

The rest of the edible turkey. :)

Abi and Lois Ann played several rounds of Uno.

Clearing the tables. Mabel used real plates, but thankfully they have a dishwasher now!

I got to hold Boaz for quite awhile. He's a really sweet baby.

Clayton, posing for Aunt Valeria.

Sam and Timmy played a kid friendly go-fish game.

Later, at the Grice gathering, we got to meet my cousin EB and her husband Jerrod's baby boy, Jase Lee. He's about 3 months old and a real cutie!

He looks just like his daddy, but you can definitely see EB in him too.

These were some of the center pieces that they had on the tables in the basement. Whoever decorated did a brilliant job!

Uncle Bob and Diane's house is beautiful!

Diane and her sister had just gotten these puppies. Their names are "Charlie" and "Teddy". They were so cute! I didn't hear them bark or get mad at any of my little cousins that were toting them around.

Sammy absolutely loved them (actually, we all did, even Mom,  but just a little)! He told Dad, "I know what I want for Christmas now!" :)

Charlie was so tired that Abi finally rescued him from the clutches of the toddlers so that he could rest. Poor guy conked out immediately and slept for quite awhile...

...And once he woke up, he played with Sam, then started playing with Jase's pacifier. I put the pacifier into his car seat, but Charlie climbed right in after it! :)