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Thanksgiving Present

We had such a nice Thanksgiving Day today! CJ's oldest brother Russ and his children, Will and Anna, drove over from Arkansas, and we brought our orphaned (no family in town) friends, the Brockobs, along to CJ's parents for a delicious meal and family fun. 7 adults, 10 kids in all.


CJ spent the morning golfing with his dad, brother, and nephew, while Evie, Mady, Anna, and Grandma cooked up a storm in the kitchen. I was home with the little girls in the morning to watch the Parade and make my Lemon Meringue Pie before I headed over.

The girls adored their teenaged cousins and had fun getting reaquainted with them. Sarah, in particular, was very fond of both Anna and Will, and they were very good sports about it!





The Goo bonded immediatley with Uncle Russ, who called her "Turtle" all day long...Goo also bonded with any warm body that would embrace her...

The men discussed the intricate details of the first incision...

And CJ braved the carving duty as his dad kept a watchful eye...

Little Kid Table!

Big Kid Table!

Ever the crafty girl that I am, I brought wood puzzles for each child to color in after they were done eating. Who'da thunk that you could find one craft project that would mesmorize and keep occupied 10 children spanning in ages from 3 to 14 for over 30 minutes!! It was a hit! I'm that good. :)

Presenting my famous homemade Lemon Meringue Pie to the delight and amazement of my mom-in-law and Dean...

The Brockob Brood...
Ma & Pa Bragg, our lovely hosts for the lovely day...

My hubby and me...
and our precious GEMS...

I am thankful for my very special family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgivings past...

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm, Turkey. My husbands turkey. Can't you just smell how good it tastes every year? He's a genius.

I really love Thanksgiving. Probably because I have hosted my family from out of town the past two years in a row. I am a party planning nut (already established in my party post) and take on Thanksgiving at my house with the same fervor, planning elaborate menus, doing all the cooking, and planning crafts and fun outings to fill out the time the family is in town visiting from Minnesota.

Here are some captured moments from the last couple of years. It has been a joy to have my brother Mike's family, my mom and dad, and great grandma Dorothy travel down the last couple years. In addition, we invite orphaned friends (who have no family in town or coming to visit) so we always have a large crowd. This year no one is coming, so I have to resort to reminising about Thanksgivings past... :(

I am a crafty and creative girl, so I must include crafts for myself, the kids and any other adults that care to partake...

Here is the Thankful Tree I made with my sis-in-law, Julia one year and I traced big leaves from my backyard onto construction paper for everyone to fill out with their thankfulness...

I saw a similar banner to this in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog last year and I thought "I can make that!" and so I did. I cut out all the pieces and had the kids and adults help assemble it. Its a favorite piece now which will be taken out each Thanksgiving.

This craft which you see hanging from my back stairs banister was done on a little outing to a children's interactive museum during the Thanksgiving visit of my brother and his family. Very fun....they are super large coffee filters we folded into a little triangle and we sprayed paint from bottles and used dot paint on them.
This was another craft outing I took with my sister-in-law, Julia, my niece, Sofie, and 3 of my girls to a Bead Boutique where the girls beaded their own necklaces...Such intense concentration from my little perfectionist, Madeline.The girls proudly wear their new, handmade necklaces!The fall colors were gorgeous last year, so I had everyone go outside and collect colored leaves and then we used contact paper to make placemats with our beautiful colored leaves. You can see my mom's and Sarah's in the background of the group shot...Setting a beautiful, festive table is as creative an outlet for me as a craft is, so I go all out planning a "wow" presentation when guests walk into the dining room. This picture is shot from the kid end up towards the adult end...I get fancier as I move towards the adults. :)And I can't forget the kids table! They deserve a beautiful place to dine as well, complete with cups of color pages and craft supplies to keep them busy.

Who's ready to eat?The master turkey maker preparing to carve his bird...The guests...
Here is my dear friend, Susan. We have known each other 3 years but it could be 20. Her and her brood (hubby, Dean, and 4 kids) joined us a couple years ago when they were orphaned...they are strays again this year and so we are adopting them and bringing them with us to my inlaws this year.The beautiful Heidger family. We have the high honor of being little Carly's (on the left in their family shot) godparents. We have known them for 8 years and were so pleased when they were orphaned last year and able to join us for Thanksgiving.What a treat it was to have my high upper 80's something "grandma" Dorothy come down last year with my parents. She says we wore her out with fun so she can't come down anymore, but what wonderful memories that she was able to be here to celebrate with us! She is the last one standing! :)

My brother Mike, my sis-in-law, Julia, and My nieces and nephew, Sofie, Lilia, and John. We had the good fortune of them coming down two years in a row. Julia is the reason no one is coming this year. She is scheduled to give birth with baby #4 just 5 days after Thanksgiving this year.

Sweet friends! Lily with Mady and Grace.My mom, Grandma Wolfe to my kids:
Is that my dad?? Grandpa Wolfe, actually pushing a grandchild on the swingset??!! You saw it here first, people.Some princesses out for a post meal swing.Here's what the men like to do after a delicious meal...thumb optional.

And here we are. This was 2007. I am thankful for my family.
This family photo was taken at our old next door neighbor's house on Thanksgiving in 2005. We were orphans that year, having just moved into our new house a week earlier, and our old next door neighbors forgave us for abandoning them and adopted us to come for Thanksgiving. We love the Garrens!

Sarah with Grace's future husband, Wyatt.

Sarah with her future husband, Cooper. Yes, the marriages are already arranged. Tracie and I were on that detail early. (check out Sarah's boy hair. She had cut the sides off with a scissors and we had no choice but to get the resulting mullet chopped off. good times.)

HAVE A HAPPY AND THANKFUL THANKSGIVING, Y'ALL!