Turkey and Family

So this is our Thanksgiving recap!

We spent the holiday with Matt's family this year, staying at Granna and Opa's and joining Matt's cousins and their kids at his Aunt Janie and Uncle Gary's.

We began the day with pumpkin pancakes. Though she assures me that they just eat cereal and whatnot when it's just the two of them, Granna makes a big breakfast any time we stay over. So pancakes it was--and bacon!

Then, naturally, we turned on the Macy's parade, and Granna got out the photos of when Matt marched in the parade his freshman year of high school. They marched right in front of Clifford, apparently. The TV coverage swooped down right on Matt's face, so the videotape of the 1995 parade is a family heirloom!

Kate was unaccustomed to seeing a TV on so long without Elmo appearing, and naptime was coming dangerously close, so we were quite thankful when the Sesame Street float finally appeared!!

 Of couse, the moment the parade moved on, Kate flung herself on the floor, screaming "Elmooo! Elmoooo!" And... it was naptime.

In the early afternoon, we headed over to Aunt Janie's. Second Cousin Lexi had been so excited to see Kate again, and they hit it off right away.

 Brian and Roxanne fix the beans while Christopher opens the wine.

This is one of my mother-in-law's pecan pies. Gorgeous, huh? My pumpkin pies were a little burned on the edge and baked in the aluminum pans the ready-made crusts came in. But I'm okay with that.

 Time to eat! The stuffing and creamed corn are always my favorite.

Before eating, we went around and shared what we were thankful for. The little kids wrote theirs down beforehand. Kate didn't share hers, but I think the list would go something like "Puppy and all my loveys, my parents and grandparents, and CHEESE!"

After eating, the kids played outside a little. The boys enjoyed rolling down the hill, while the girls played with the big seed-ball things that fell from the trees. (Osage oranges, I've now been told.)

Then, finally, the babies woke up! Christopher and Viktoria's 5-month-old twins Estella and Henry, whom we were all eager to get acquainted with.

And then we took a gazillion group photos. This was the culmination: the four generation photo with Matt's grandmother, her two daughters, three of the four grandsons, and six great-grandkids.

After pie, I took a few shots of the babies...

Shawn played his bass clarinet for us...

And eventually I realized I hadn't been in a single photo all day, so we took a family pic.

Lexi asked to come spend the night at her great-aunt and uncle's house (my in-laws') so that she could spend more time with Kate. The two girls had so much fun climbing up to the top bunk bed, reading books, coloring, and playing piano.

So that was our Thanksgiving! How was yours?