Thanksgiving 2009

My family spends our Thanksgiving at my Auntie Lucy's house here in Vista. Throughout my life we've spent Thanksgiving in different places, but when my grandparents moved down here in the 1990s, we began spending Thanksgiving here in town. My Grandma Nena along with my mother's sisters and their families usually attend. We all help out with the menu so my Auntie doesnt have to shoulder the demands of the entire meal.

This year Mom and Dad spent Thanksgiving in Paris. This is the second time they have fled to France to spend Thanksgiving abroad. I believe it has to do with plane flights and prices this time of year, but you never know. ha ha Just kidding. ;)I dont take offense to them leaving, actually. The first time they left in 1997 was surprising, but I honestly think its cool that they want to spend time alone discovering new places. Im happy that they have taken the time to travel now that my sisters and I are older. Its a nice thought for me. Also absent this year was my sister, Miranda. She is in love for the first time and spent Thanksgiving with her boyfriend's family.

Because my parents and Miranda were not able to spend Thanksgiving with us this year, I figured Id post a few pictures and add a little dialogue for their benenfit.

This first shot is of my Uncle Bruce, his son/my cousin Phil, his daughter/my cousin Erin and my Auntie Lucy serving them. Uncle Bruce is married to my Auntie Mel and the four of them (Phil and Erin too) drove down together for the holiday. Unfortunately, they got stuck in 3 hours worth of traffic. Egads! I felt bad for them, but Erin said they played games in the car to kill the time. Im really glad they came. It was great to see both of them. I got to spend some solo time talking to my Uncle Bruce this holiday. We sat out back after dinner and I talked his ear off about my kids. It was pretty cool for me. Ive never talked to him alone like that before.

Look at Finn working the fork and the knife. That's my boy! Goooo Finner!

On the left are our Lawson cousins: Gavin and Hayley. They are my cousin Bri's kids. I couldnt get over Gavin's hair when I first saw him. It was so long! He looked like a different kid! On the right is one of the two Noivo cousins: Gabby. Nicole had both her daughters dressed in identical pink dresses with big pink bows. They looked adorable as always.

Here is one of two adult tables. The Paweleks, Uncle Joe, Joe Jr, Matt and I were at another table. Tradition allows the kids their own table. There were lots of jokes about how the kids are beginning to outgrow the adults.

On the left is Matt serving himself food. Because there are usually a lot of us, we all pitch in and bring something for the Thanksgiving meal. Auntie Mel made her fabulous jello salad. I had 3 servings of it - I love it! Matt made his family's traditional noodles. All of them were eaten - we brought none home with us. Nicole made the greenbeans an Brussels sprouts. I made the cranberries and since Dad wasnt there to eat them, Matt did this year. He said they werent bad. However, the hit for this year's meal was what Jennifer made: Paula Dean's cornbread stuffing. Everyone agreed it was fantastico! I think Jennifer is going to be forced to bring it to Thanksgiving for now on. On the right is Finn at the kids table. They get to drink Sparkling apple cider at the kid's table. This year Auntie bought sparkling strawberry and blueberry cider too.

My parents grandchildren: Eli, Finn, Seamus and Abbey.

And here are all the cousins. I love taking these kinds of pictures. Seeing all the young kids together like this reminds me of when I was a kid. I had so many cousins growing up. We always saw each other for the holidays. I have so many wonderful memories of growing up along side them and I feel grateful that my own kids can do the same.
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What else is there to update you guys on. Auntie Lucy got teary giving the blessing and all the kids said "Bless us Oh Lord" together. It was adorable. Erin just finished her UC applications and said she was applying to all the schools except UCSB or UCSD. WTF??? I sense there is a story there but I didnt ask. I'll have to dig deeper later. Bri told us she and Brian are splitting up but that it is being done very amicably. Thats good; she seems really good. Auntie Mel gave us her tips on not getting H1N1 this season. Not touching doorknobs seems to be her secret. Everyone was good. :)

Wished you were there - all of you.

Incidently, Matt got online today and was looking at pictures of his family this Thanksgiving. They were mostly all in Texas and Matt got very sentimental seeing Sam (our niece) and the family china. Thanks for posting those pictures, Kris. One of these days we will all have to meet up for a Thanksgiving to remember. :)

Happy Sunday. :)