Thanksgiving 2009

I have been neglecting my blog again! But what fun we've been having in the mean time!!! Marty's youngest brother Rick and his fiancee came to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with the family. We had not seen Rick since my father in law's funeral in 2003. That's much too long to go without seeing family!

We have so enjoyed our visits with Rick and Sandy. Thursday was Thanksgiving at my mother in law's house. I was asked to make Pumpkin rolls and deviled eggs. No problem. Wednesday night after work and after church I began making the pumpkin rolls while my sweet husband cleaned our house. I made the pumpkin rolls and was still feeling energetic, hubby was still scrubbing our room and the guest room so I just kept cooking. I made cheesy tortilla roll-ups (Yum!) and munched until the wee hours of the morning. Then I decided to use up the last of the pumpkin and make some pumpkin bread. I think I crawled into bed sometime between 1 and 2 am. It's been a really long time since I've wanted to bake goodies and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Thanksgiving was made extra special this year in being able to share it with Rick and Sandy, my sister in law Debbie and her children Cheyenne and Tony, and my mother in law Billie and father in law Freddie, and my brother in law Shad, his wife Mari, and their three children Anna, Logan and Olivia.

We were even able to share part of the day with my brother in law Mike via Skype on the computer. What a blessing technology was to our entire family that day! It was the first time Marty, Heather, Billie and Freddie or I have been able to use Skype to talk to Mike. He has been in Iraq for many months and we all miss him. There were many tears and much laughter as we all gathered in the hallway to get a glimpse of and talk to Mike. Later in the day we were even able to see and talk to my nephew Chris in Arizona. He is to be deployed to Afghanistan for 4 months. We are so proud of both Mike and Chris!

Mike on Skype! Gotta love technology!!!



Marty and Rick talking to Mike on Skype:


Heather and Granny (Billie) talking to Chris on skype. It was so good to be able to SEE him looking so happy and hear his voice.




As has become the norm when we are at Freddie and Bilie's, horseshoes were pitched.
Me, Shad and his daughter Anna:


And on the other end, Freddie and Tony (my nephew Logan is the little one off to the side):



Shad with his wife Mari:


Rick carved the turkey:


You know Granny loves it when she gets to cook for so many of us that another table has to be added!










Debbie and Cheyenne:



After dinner the little ones could be found playing in the piles of leaves.
Logan:


Olivia:



Anna:






I hope each of you had a Thanksgiving that was as blessed as ours!

Thanksgiving

Marty, me, Heather, Billie and Freddie on the Riverwalk

Things have been so crazy that I haven't even had time to blog all that's happening! We had a great Thanksgiving with Marty's family. We had a huge dinner at my sister in law Debbie's house and everyone ate way too much food. After dinner Marty, Heather and I were joined by my inlaws Freddie and Billie and we headed to the Riverwalk. The Christmas lights weren't lit yet but it was still a nice night!

Marty and me on a terrace over the San Antonio Riverwalk







Billie and Freddie








Flowers planted in heart-shaped flower beds near the wedding island on the Riverwalk.







The beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk. See the transformation with Christmas lights coming up in a couple of days!

Thanksgiving Day

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day we had! My day began with a phone call from my mom wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving. I love to hear from her, but boy did she make me wish I were in Missouri!

After baking my requested pumpkin roll, sweet potatoes, cooking the mashed potatoes and thawing the pecan pie, we headed to San Atonio to Mike and Debbie's for dinner. The smells coming from her kitchen when we arrived made my mouth water! We were joined by my mother in law and father in law, Billie and Freddie and Freddie's parents Jean and Tom, as well as Freddie's brother Robert.

Before we ate, Debbie let me take her brand new car for a spin!!!

My mother in law Billie has a thing about people who continuously open an oven door to check the food. So....Debbie and I purposely opened it over and over! ha ha!

Can you just smell Billie's famous hot rolls as she pulls them from the oven???? YUM!



Marty and Mike messing with the wishbone.

Me with my sister in law Debbie. Debbie, I so enjoyed cutting up with you all day!!!

My brother in law Mike.
(Debbie, I know how much you like this picture so here you go...drool away! )

Heather and my niece Cheyenne parked in front of the video game!

My nephew Chris and his fiancee Cil. Congratulations guys!!!

Me and Marty.

Marty, Mike and Debbie playing on the computer. Our evening was spent cutting up, burning cd's, surfing the net, and checking out blogs.






Even though the twins don't look alike, Debbie and I noticed today they have the same lines between their eyes when they are intently focused on something or mad. I don't have a clue what they were so intently focused upon here!






My nephew Tony comes out of hiding long enough to find a snack and see what the guys are looking at.







Cheyenne and Heather got along the whole day and I snuck upstairs to grab a quick picture of them hanging out.

Hope everyone had as an enjoyable Thanksgiving as we did!!!

Thanksgiving in Missouri, 2006

Normally at this time of year we are preparing for a trip to Missouri for Thanksgiving (folks back home call it "Thanksgivin'"). Not this year. We're staying in Texas, and waiting until Christmas to head to Missouri.



Last year's trip was a great one! As is typical for us, there were several road trips during our stay. Thanksgiving day was spent at Mom's with most of the family (aka "kinfolk") present. Throughout the afternoon more family members and friends of the family typically pop in to say hello (actually they'd say "howdy" or "howdy youns" -- exactly what IS "youns"???) and nibble on more food and desserts (also known simply as "grub" or "vittles"). It is not unusual for 50 people to have come and gone throughout the day. Where there's food...people come out of the woodwork! Especially when my mama's been cooking!



The days after Thanksgiving and before our return trip to Texas were spent driving around, site seeing and of course taking lots of pictures. Marty was a great sport driving us all over. His one request this year for our trip is "can we please not spend so much time driving other places once we get there???"

Both my sisters as we walk down to the creek (pronounced "crick" by locals) to look around and take pictures. Regina's on the left, and Lacey's on the right. (Of course if I'd said this several years ago I'd have said, "we walked down the holler to the crick.")

Marty and me on the trek to the creek.

Typically at some point during the visit all the girls go out for coffee. Mom couldn't join us this day, but Regina, Lacey, and JoAn did. Here is Regina with Heather.

Heather with her Uncle Levi.

Regina and her family.
Regina, Greg, Danielle and Brandon.

Marty, me and Heather.





The whole crew (well, there were many others in and out, but we didn't get a group shot of EVERYONE at one time)




My siblings and me.

Lacey, Regina, Levi, Davy and me.

(I bet we've always been this cooperative for a picture! I was sitting beside them but they kep knocking me over so I moved to the back! )

Marty and me

(taken at the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO)

Mom and CeCe on our hike to Falling Spring.

Regina. This is a typical stance of Regina, Mom, JoAn, Nana and me at any given time.
Notice my brother in law Greg in the background? He's showing you the typical stance of the men waiting, and waiting while we take pictures.

The kids (Brandon, Danielle, Heather and Marty and Greg) found this trolley set up for the Conservation Department to use to cross the river at Greer Spring. I think if the guys could have figured out how to unlock it, they'd have actually used it to cross the river. What an example that would have set for the teenagers!

Scene at Falling Spring.

Posing for a picture on the hike down to Greer Spring.

From the left: Greg, Marty, Mom, CeCe, Regina and JoAn.

My cousin Willie with Lacey.

Some of my family members are as redneck as they come but I love them all! Sometimes I wonder if Jeff Foxworthy has used some of my relatives for references for his jokes!
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Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!!

You're older than me for a day!

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