We had a nice Thanksgiving at Mom's. Those who made it were, George and his wife, Deb; Russell and his wife, Shot along with their son, Shawn and his wife, Nancy; LaVonne and Jim's son, Chris with his wife, Crystal along with their two children, Taylor and Caitlyn; LaVonne and Jim's daughter, Carrie and her fiance, Donny; and then me. We missed having LaVonne and Jim with their daughter, Deb and her children who all moved earlier this year. It would also have been nice to have Bill and Mercy with their family but Florida is a long way to come just for Thanksgiving. However, maybe they'll surprise us sometime!? |
-- THE GATHERING --
|
 |
 |
| George and Deb swung by and picked me up. We were the first arrivals. Shot and Russell arrived not long after us. Then, I think it was Chris and his family followed by Shawn and Nancy. If I remember correctly, Carrie and Donnie were the last to arrive but none of us were far apart. I started sneeking snapshots shortly after we got there. George caught me and began to cover up. Mom was busy in the kitchen and it wasn't long before everyone was in there to see how they could help. My chair and I were only getting in the way so I just took pictures. |
-- PREPARATION --
|
 |
 |
Mom did a great job with the turkey. George ended up doing the carving and even sliced some tomatoes. Russell was helping, too. He was standing at the stove keeping things stirred for mom. I tried to get a picture of him at work but, just as I clicked the shutter, Carrie stepped in the way. (I have some better views of her below).  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Taylor, Caitlyn, and I were the first one's at the table. Actually, we were there a little early. Mom was still busy setting out all the food. They were anxious to dig in. I was trying to help keep their little fingers out of the serving bowls but, I'll have to admit, I did sneek a few pieces of the turkey myself. |
-- DIGGING IN! --
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| It wasn't long before Mom began preparing some of the leftovers to send home. She let me choose what I wanted. I enjoyed them for several days and never got tired of them. Sure tasted good! |
 |
-- LETTING IT ALL SETTLE! --
|
 |
 |
| Everyone had a full stomach after eating. We just sat around chatting.....some in the livingroom and some in the kitchen. Shawn was yawning. He had to go to work later that evening. I caught Donnie using his cellphone to talk with a friend. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
-- THE WHOLE HAPPY GROUP --
|
 |
 I tried hard to get a good group photo but had a difficult time. The digital camera I was borrowing just didn't take a real clear group shot. Plus, even though we took four photos, try as we might, we just couldn't get mom to sit in on any of them. I took two snapshots and George and Deb took two. We never did get all of us into one photo. The large photo above is actually a composit. I took the clearest of the photos and then used my computer to insert mom and I into the group and then cropped it. The photo to the left shows what the image originally looked like before mom and I were added. Pretty cool, huh!? |
-- A BLESSING --
|
" ' "The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace." ' "
Numbers 6:24-26 - NIV
|
 |
