Thanksgiving

Wow, lots to write about Thanksgiving. I had a great week. I went to meet my Aunt Janice and Uncle Donald to pick up Gybabe on Sunday. We ate at Braums and then Gybabe and I were off for an adventure. I am not sure she knew what she was getting herself into! We got home Sunday evening and got her all settled in. We didn't do much that night except eat a little and play skip-bo. On Monday we went to get our nails done. Gybabe wasn't sure what to think about all of those girls giving her back rubs and using paraffin wax on her hands. The only bad thing - they trimmed her nails too short and she couldn't pick a thing up the rest of the week! Monday evening and Tuesday morning she kept the dishes washed while I got ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We got the turkey carved, made turkey balls, put the casseroles together, and did all the prep work that we could get out of the way. Tuesday afternoon I took her to the Dallas Arboretum. I think at first she wasn't sure why I would want to waste our time going to a garden, but I think once we got there she was glad we did. We ended up spending about 4 1/2 hours there and she was in awe the whole time. We got a wheelchair for her, but she ended up walking most of the time. (Except when I would make her ride) We had a really fun day and I am so glad that I had that opportunity to spend with my grandmother. Laura came in Tuesday night and we played some more skip-bo and visited with her. Wednesday was a busy day running last minute errands and Laura was baking away. She made some amazing pumpkin bread and pumpkin pies. (the secret to her crust for the pies was a splash of vodka....but don't worry.....we only used it for baking! : ) Then the rest of the crew got in on Wednesday night. Lisa, Bruce, Lauren and Matt got in Wednesday evening. We ate some spaghetti and waited for Scott and his bunch to get in. Lisa made about 20 trips to the store to get the air mattress situation under control. (thanks, Lisa!) Matt and Bruce didn't quite make it until Scott got in!

We got beds ready and then after Scott, Katy, Jacob, Hanna, Sarah, Leah, Abi, and Joshua made it in, we all went to bed. Don't ask me how I got them all squished into my little house, but we did it. Thanks for being so sweet and putting up with the too close for comfort positioning - you guys are great!

Thursday morning we all got up....way too early to be getting up.....and made our way to downtown Dallas for the Turkey Trot.

Even though it was early, the girls were up and ready to go!

This was our second annual trip to the trot.....and we all were wondering why are we doing this on the way there....but once you get there.....it is so much fun. Lots of great people watching. Good exercise so you can pig out at dinner. We get to see which one of us will walk into a pole each year.

Abi and Joshua got to see all the people with hats and puppy dogs walking by.

Lots of good sweet family memories, like me screaming at Laura that "I am not mad" and giving the people around us a good giggle. (Don't worry, I apologized to her about 5 minutes later and we were all good) We made it back to the house around noon and I started on dinner. With everyone's help, we were ready to eat by 2 and all asleep pretending to watch the cowboy game by 3:30. Couldn't get any better than that! Lisa and Bruce left on Friday and took Gybabe to Lubbock to meet Janice and Donald. Scott and Katy stayed around for a little while. We went to get my Christmas tree and got it put up (more on that later). Then they left Friday evening. Laura and I were bums the rest of Friday and enjoyed the quiet! Overall it was a great week and a great Thanksgiving. I hope that all of the family had as much fun as I did and I hope that they will all come back again next year.