Thanksgiving

That was the biggest Thanksgiving I've ever been to. Granted, I come from a small family, but 24 people is a lot. Even when my aunt was living and had three kids and two stepchildren, we didn't get up to that many at one meal.

Let's see:
Grandpa Mike
His children Lee (my MIL), Gail, and Bob
Gail's husband Uncle Marty, and Bob's wife Aunt Martha
jducoeur of course, and me
Mark's sister Ruth, her husband Jeremy, and their two kids Joshua and baby Riley
Gail's daughters Shari and Dina, with their husbands Larry and Mike
Shari's daughters Sadha and Brianna
Dina's kids Guido and the baby (eek! what's her name?)
Bob's sons Ben and Jon, with their girlfriends Laurie and Larissa

Anyway, we devoured turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry relish, and six kinds of pie (chocolate pecan, lemon meringue, apple walnut, blueberry, multi-berry, pumpkin).

Unfortunately, the only down note was that we continue to be in different time zones. jducoeur and I thought we were eating early, at 6:30, but all the parents of preschoolers thought we ate late and took the children back to the hotel for bed right after dessert. We hardly got to see them, since the parents-with-young-kids table was in the kitchen, and the adults' tables were in the dining room. The kids were melting down anyway - they had arrived at Bob & Martha's by lunchtime, skipped naps, and spent the whole afternoon playing in the rumpus room.