For the past 35 years, I have spent every Thanksgiving (at least part of it) with my dad's side of the family. Actually, there was ONE year we only went to Paul's parent's house, and that was when Paul was deep into his chemo and radiation treatments and just wanted a very low key holiday, because face it, he was sick.
This year, we spent the afternoon with my family and the evening with Paul's. Here's what went down!
We arrived at Cousin Steph and Ken's house in Mechanicsburg around noon. The whole family was already there! In attendance were...
My mom, dad, brother Tyler, and his wife Debby, and their kids: Ellie, Clementine, and Clark.
Auntie Eileen, Uncle Rick, and my cousins Nick and Alex.
Aunt Patti, Uncle Randy, and their kids: Steph and Brian. Plus Steph's husband Ken and their kiddos: Zach, Jacob, Caleb, and Emma.
And of course me and Paul!
It was a full house!
Before we ate, we all just hung around and chatted with each other. I hadn't eaten yet, so I picked at Auntie Eileen's veggie/cheese/pepperoni/cracker/olive plate.
BREAKFAST!!!!
Ken was outside deep frying a turkey! This was a new thing this year and everyone was excited for it.
Finally, it was time to eat. There was so many of us that we sit at two different tables.
After the big meal, everyone just did their own thing. There was football on TV, video games in the playroom, and lots of kids outside. At one point, all the cousins got together to play Code Names. We laughed so hard! I love my cousins!
Clark and Grandpa
Cousin Nick and Auntie Eileen
Caleb and Emma can't wait to chop the head off the butter turkey!
The Uncle Ricks playing with the kids.
Clark, Emma, Jacob, Ellie, and Caleb
Mom and Aunt Patti
Debby
She cuts her own hair!!! I wish I had her skills.
Nanny and Clark
Misty girl!
Clark and Tyler
Me and my bro Tyler
Me and Cousin Steph
Paul, Cousin Ken and Cousin Brian
Cousin Brian, Cousin Alex, and Tyler
Clementine and Ellie
Grandpa and Clark wrestle
Time flew, and before I knew it, Paul and I had to say goodbye to everyone so we could go to his parent's house.
Luckily, it's only about a 25 minute drive, so we got there around 5:20. It was just his parents and brother Keith. Paul's dad is a GREAT cook and made the whole meal. I didn't have to bring anything!
Paul and I had a drink, then it was time to eat.
After dinner, Paul's dad read a story to us about his childhood. It included in anecdote about how on the day JFK died, he played hooky from school, but his mom never found out because it was such a crazy day.
After dinner, we kept jibber jabbering, and then it was time to go home. Paul and I were both exhausted!
I wish my whole family got together more often. They are fun, kind people and I love hanging out with them.
So much to be thankful for this year!
Where do you go on Thanksgiving? How many people?
Are you close with your cousins?
Are you close with your cousins?
What a great day for you and your family!
ReplyDeleteWe go to my inlaws so I did not get to hang out with my cousins but my sister did, she said they had a blast playing games and such!
Debby looks great! Love her hair do. Oh and nice of you to include Misty girl in your pictures!
Yes, Debby is so beautiful! I wish I could cut my own hair.
DeleteLooks like a fun Thanksgiving! My family is so spread out so we rarely all get together. Most years now on Thanksgiving we just spend it with my parents, and then do all our traveling at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYes, you do a lot of traveling over Christmas time!
DeleteI'm so glad you got to spend Thanksgiving with your family, and it looks like you had a really fun day and lots of good food.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amy! I love Thanksgiving food.
DeleteI'm jealous of people with big families! Adam and I don't have any cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc. around so our gatherings are small. When I was a kid my grandparents, aunt and uncle used to come to my house and that was fun!
ReplyDeleteIt does make it fun when there are a lot of people! Not many people come to Paul's house but my side is huge!
DeleteLooks like a fun day of family! Ditto what Kristina said, I'm jealous, our family gatherings are usually small. However, we are hosting the family Christmas party in a few weeks. It's Alan's family, which is much bigger than my family. I'm not the best hostess so I'm starting to stress a little just thinking about it!!
ReplyDeleteOh hosting will be FUN!!!! Just plan plan plan and do as much ahead of time as possible. Make the kids clean the house, promise them a race entry for their services.
DeleteWhat a fun Thanksgiving, Megan. I am glad you had such a great time with family.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I just wanted to mention, because I somehow just learned about this (I guess I haven't been reading your blog long enough), that I am really sorry to hear about Paul's brain tumor and what he's been through already. My bff (from home) has been battling a brain tumor for the last decade, too (and is currently in chemo again) and she experiences seizures as well, so I can relate to a lot of what you said in earlier posts (I searched your blog a bit ;)). I hope that Paul will continue on this positive path!
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. :( That really sucks. I hope Paul doesn't have to do chemo again. For now, things are looking good. I haven't talked about it on my blog much recently because thankfully he has been doing well! Plus he is really private... not like me, I put it all out there!
DeleteI totally understand. I definitely hope that things will continue on this path and that he stays well. It's such a scary thing!
DeleteWhat a beautiful holiday! That cheese and crackers plate made me hungry!
ReplyDeleteWe have a few cousins nearby, but we don't talk to them much. I couldn't imagine doing thanksgiving with them.
Auntie Eileen has been bringing that spread for years!
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