Thanksgiving 2023: A Quick Look at the Big Day

Thanksgiving is over and my heart is full. I am also exhausted - I'm not sure how many more big family gatherings I can host in the future. 

But in the meantime, I am savoring the glow from what was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Here are a few quick snaps.

 

The kids' table was hopping - those cousins love to get together and they were laughing and playing together all day. Lukie, Kate, Cambria, Titan, Julie, Ian, Mila, and Susie. The gifts for Dirty Santa are ready to go behind Titan.

Vanessa, Curt, Andrew, Jessica, Eric (our nephew), Steve, Cindie, and Emily.

Jenny, Leslie, Rick, Frank, Lisa, Craig, and Cole. (I think Craig is as tired as me!)

Frank brought juggling balls as part of his Dirty Santa gift and Emily won them. She, Frank, Andrew, and Cole can all juggle so they broke out the balls and had a little fun together.

Poor Gus was over the moon when he saw all those balls and VERY disappointed when no one threw one for him.

We were having fun, but we were all missing two families very much - the Florida Isenbargers and the Iowa Colemans.

Sarah posted a photo of their Thanksgiving dinner. Gosh how we wished they were with us!

My family... what can I say? Every last one of them jumped in and we did a massive clean up of wrapping paper, boxes, dishes, and getting food covered and into the fridge. Furniture was returned to its place and, while my home was still full of people, loud, and a bit crazy, Craig and I would not be spending hours later getting all that clean up done. Thank you, everyone. 

Naturally, we gathered around the dining room table to play Bank and other games.

And, we had a "break the bank" kind of game, too. Jessica, Andrew, Lisa, Frank, Eric, and Emily.

The dice were rolling in our favor much of the time and we all had high scores. Emily, Vanessa, Curt, and Craig.

Craig, though, had the highest - over 3,000 points after ten rounds! 

Me with my siblings, Leslie, Steve, and Jenny. All four of us have had significant health challenges recently, and we are all feeling our own mortality a bit. A sibling picture was in order.

It did take a bit to get us to settle down, though.

More to come in a day or two -  I really am worn out. Stay 'tooned!