Here is a rather lengthy recap of our Thanksgiving festivities...
WEDNESDAY...
Wednesday was "pie-day," which is really one of my favorite days of the entire year. I absolutely love the domesticity of it...the apron, the smells, the chopping and stirring, the nurturing feeling of pies cooling on the counter. Other than my September canning days, nothing compares to the simple joy of this kind of creation for me. Plus, I have a gift for apple pies. Really.
Amidst all the cooking, Olivia was afraid I would forget her little Thanksgiving program at school. And I found a number of these in strategic locations around the house.
I did not forget.
All of my brothers and their "extensions" were in town this year for Thanksgiving, so we all went bowling on Wednesday night. I actually tied Dave's score on one of our games! This is significant only because he is extremely competitive when it comes to bowling scores, tennis games, or scrabble tournaments. (Even if we are playing strip-scrabble...he hates to lose.)
Here are Olivia and Savannah with their cousin Emma squeezed in between. They had a big "sleep over" after the bowling. (Not much sleeping, of course, but lots of cousin-time.)
THURSDAY...
Dave and the kids got up bright and early to run in the Turkey Trot, which is such a big tradition here.
We did get a picture of everyone together on Thanksgiving afternoon...which was surprisingly painless and long overdue.
(There were three pregnant ladies in the picture this year. I was secretly thankful I wasn't one of them.)
FRIDAY...
Another bright and early morning. My brother, Christian, is getting married in January and so we had a bridal shower for his bride-to-be early Friday morning at Crackers and Co. It was obscenely early, but Jared and Jacob were flying out with their families, so we made it work. And on the plus side, it wasn't quite as early as Kohl's opened. (I will never understand that madness. I am a completely converted online shopper.)
Most of the rest of the weekend was games and eating, all with family. My kids were in heaven and we are all tiredly happy. I did get to go fabric shopping at Zoe's with two of my sisters-in-law and my mom on Saturday afternoon...and we even got in a bit of quilting. (We were working on our block-of-the-month quilt. My sister, Emily, said, "So which month is this...November or December?" We said, "Uh, September." Oh, well. Better late than never.) My quilting was sadly sloppy, but I've decided just to make it work. I'm tired of cleaning up, even after myself.