Week In Review

We've been busy this past week with visiting family and doing a little shopping.  We celebrated granddaughter Stephanie's birthday this past Sunday with dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant in Concord, NC.  Her siblings were all there to help her celebrate.  One of her brothers informed the waiters at the restaurant that it was her birthday and they had a special treat for her.  They sang a modified happy birthday to her after they put a huge sombrero on her head.  They beat on the sombrero with paper napkins and made a lot of noise.  Then they put some whipped cream on a napkin and smeared it on her face.  Now Stephanie is the princess of the family and everyone was waiting to see how she took it.  She came through in the clutch and was a good sport about it.

Shawn & Stephanie in front and Griffin & Ryan in back.

 Our great grandson Griffin is 22 months old and wasn't too happy about them treating Stephanie like they did and started shaking and crying.  It took a while for him to calm down and when he saw she wasn't crying also, he calmed down.  He is a very sensitive little fellow.

Monday grandson Jared and Hannah came to our motor home for a homemade Chili dinner.  This was in the works for a couple visits here, but one thing or another kept it from happening.  Well, we finally worked it out and had a very nice time.

We visited with Larry Jr. and family and had dinner with them on Tuesday and Wednesday.  One night it was great steaks and the next time it was vegetarian burritos and a great dessert.  I think they are trying to fatten me up for something.  

Today the crew all gathered at Barbara & Henry's for Thanksgiving and everyone brought something for the meal.  There sure wasn't a shortage of great food for all of us.  We all managed to stuff ourselves and then waddle back to the couch for some football.

Ryan, Grant and Barbara

Barbara, Larry Jr., Jane and Sean

Panoramic view of table and family.

The kitchen table had been moved into the dining room to extend the tables.  Afterward the younger members of the family moved the table back to the kitchen.  Henry always looks forward to removing the leaves in the table and putting them away after a large gathering.  He is one happy fellow now that the table is back in the right place and back to it's normal size.

We have a lot to be thankful for and were able to enjoy the day with people we love.  It's hard to top a day like today and only the fact that Cassie & Family, Jared & Hannah,  plus Tom & Darlene were unable to join us kept it from being perfect.  Maybe next year we can all be there together enjoying Thanksgiving.

I hope all our family and friends had a Happy Thanksgiving like us and were able to enjoy it with ones they love.

Leftovers and Company

For many people the good part about the Thanksgiving dinner is the leftovers they have the next day.  Some things are tastier after they sit in the refrigerator overnight and turkey is one of them.  Actually, just about everything about the dinner is great.

Barbara & Henry hosted the dinner yesterday and the least we can do is go over tonight and help them with the leftovers.  We will be joined by Cassie, Jack and Lexa in performing this task.   More company for Henry to deal with.  LOL  

Henry's parents, Henry Sr & Liz left this morning at 6:00 am for their home in New York.  They called and said the roads were almost deserted, but there were a lot of police patrolling the interstate.  Sounds like a good time to slow down and get there safely.

Larry Jr, Jane and Grant are on the road to Evansville, IN to visit with friends.  It was one of the few times they have enough time off work and school to make the visit.  They left this morning also and said other than shoppers, there wasn't much traffic.  They will be returning on Monday, the day we leave for Texas.  

Not much happening around here other than taking it easy and getting a few chores finished.  It is a beautiful sunny day with temps around 71 degrees outside.  If it was like this around here all the time, we would snowbird here, but the cold weather will arrive soon.

We hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends and enjoyed it.  We surely did with our Thanksgiving celebration and felt blessed to all be together. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Gerry and I will be with all our children and their families the year for the first time since 2005.   That was the first year that Larry Jr. and Jane had reconnected and she joined us for Thanksgiving.  Now they are married and living in the Charlotte area and we will all gather at Barbara & Henry's house for the celebration.  Cassie, Jack & Lexa arrived last night at 12:30 am after a 7 hour drive from Maryland.  It will be great to see all of them together at one time for Thanksgiving.

Where are you all spending Thanksgiving this year?  I know Judy & Steve will have their meal at the recreation center at CCRV and I am sure there will a great spread there as usual.  We've had our dinners there for the previous 5 years and had friends Judy & Herb, Gloria & Doug, and Ron & Dee  join us at various times.  

Run you guys, it is Thanksgiving and  you know what that means.

Don't eat too much.

This is how big the family has grown over the years.  The only two people missing are Taylor who had to work and Dee who was at her mother's for Thanksgiving.  We even included the family dog in the picture.