On Thursday, November 26, 2009, Thanksgiving came around swiftly and without warning. Literally, I think this one creeped up quicker than any other have as I was still reeling from the the unexpected arrival of Halloween. After this, there were two down and the final of the big three to go. I had been up late the night before at Sly and Kristy’s house playing cards. I ended up sleeping in their guestroom so I only got about two hours of sleep before they had gotten up and headed off to work.
I hung around there with Jamie until about noon, basking in the leftover reuben, buffalo chicken dip, and Coca-Cola. I headed home and attempted a nap before it was time to head out to our family festivities.
This year it was at Darlene and Bob’s house. It was the standard ‘come at 4, eat at 5’ setup. I compromised and shot for 4:30. Even though I always fear that I am going to be late, the rest of my family is always later.
I walked in to find Zac mashing the potatoes. But enough about that.
Smashing Zac mashes back
Christi dropped off Ashleigh and Briana, who had spent the day at their Nana’s house in Cincinnati. It is always great to have Briana with us for the holidays. Briana committed to contributing to the Christmas Newsletter again this year. Here it is so documented.
My girls Briana and Ashleigh
MomĀ and MeganĀ kick off the Thanksgiving presentation of the babies
Livi is new to this whole Thanksgiving thing. Chris is new to this whole baby thing.
Allie is a very good sport when the camera is out. She smiles on cue. So does Karen actually.
Yaht and Bri and the squint and beam…
…and naturally the duckfaces
Ashleigh entertains Megan with her cell phone
All I was required to bring along were two bottles of Diet Coke (not my choice, by the way…this is what I was told to do by those in the family with the authority to dictate our contributions). But despite my meager contribution, there was an unbelievable array of food that obviously included all of the standard Thanksgiving fare, plus other great delicacies such as shrimp, ham, and poppyseed cake. That darn poppyseed cake was so good it even kept me from enjoying any pumpkin pie. Our host Bob even provided frosty mugs for a nice swig of Blue Moon ale.
Blue Moon…you left me standing alone
Sarah, Doug, Brittney, Ed, and Darlene all hae the decency to pose for the picture. Chris, on the other hand…
Mealtime for Ash, Mom, Bob, and me. Ashleigh was still full from Nana’s. Either than or she ate her plate too.
Darlene, Grandpa, Bev, Andrew, Zac, Abby, Karen, and just barely reaching the table, Allie. Boy, that Darlene gets around.
On hand for the engorging were Grandpa Murphy, Diana & Tom, Cathy, Debby & Mike and Bradley, Mom & Bob, me and Ashleigh and Briana, Bryan & Erine, Denise & Aaron and Adam and Megan, Bev & Ed, Susan & Charles and Charley and Sammy, Chris & Sarah and Livi, Karen & Joe and Andrew, Abby, and Allie, Darlene & Bob, Brittney & Doug, Jacob & Lauren, and last and certainly least, Zac.
After dinner relaxation with Bev, Abby, and Livi
Briana and Megan compare phones. Megan’s tastes better.
Cathy and Debby hang out in the man-garage
Bryan and Bob loosen their belts downstairs
Adam provides the entertainment
Hey! This isn’t turkey!
Happy Megan and Denise
Megan does the after-dinner jig. Ed volunteers. Tom remains in silhouette.
Andrew, the other white cameraman
Handsome pals Andrew and Bradley
I stuck around until around 8pm and then took the girls back home. Unfortunately, I was not off work on Friday, so I didn’t get to enjoy the stomach muscle rest that many others would.
As always, it is great to spend Thanksgiving with the Murphy clan, a tradition that has endured for as long as I can remember.
Up next: Prep for (egads!) Christmas 2009…
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