Thanksgiving 2008

~~~I know this post is a little late, but it's better late than never! =)~~~

This year for Thanksgiving, Dave and I were fortunate to have almost all of our immediate family in attendance. The only person missing was Dave's brother-in-law, Karl. Otherwise, I was so glad that even my brother, his girlfriend, and my sister were all able to make it to Shreveport! That's a first! It's actually been almost 3 years since all of us siblings have been at the same place at the same time....David was in the Navy for 6 years and traveling all over the world while Liz has been in Japan and is home for a few months before she goes back. What a treat! This was the first time that any of our siblings have seen Brody, too. Our parents were the only ones lucky enough to meet him up until this family gathering. Liz brought her two friends from Japan with her--Shoko and Nori, who are sisters that we actually met while we were in Japan last summer. They both attend school here in the States now and were able to come see us for Thanksgiving! What fun to see them again! They are both HILARIOUS and fit right in with all of us! =)

Even though we usually cook a huge Thanksgiving meal at home, this year we took the "easy" road and all went to Cracker Barrel! It's hard to cook that big of a meal for 14 people!! Surprisingly it was pretty good. I had never had anything other than "Thanksgiving food" for the holiday, but I enjoyed some chicken and dumplings while Dave enjoyed steak biscuits. We had a great waitress, too!

Our family Thanksgiving picture

Every year we have games that we play after dinner....they are always "competitions" that the whole family can participate in and they always have "rounds" to determine who can continue playing. In the end, there is always just one final winner. This year we had the "Paper Ball Toss" and "Card Flipping". Jerry, Dave's dad, won the Paper Ball Toss (Dave came in second), and Mary, Dave's sister won the Card Flipping (I think I came in 2nd). Dave also is known for his story-telling and everyone enjoys listening to his outrageous tales....this year was no exception! =)

For breakfast on Friday we always go to Cracker Barrel to see Dave's family off. Since we went there for Thanksgiving, this year we went to IHOP for breakfast. We had a lot of fun talking and goofing off. This is Dave's family, minus Karl.

L-R: me, Joe (nephew), Wes (nephew), Mary (mom), Brody, Dave, Jerry (dad), and Mary (sister)

my family

L-R: Ed (dad), David (brother), Faith (brother's girlfriend), Peggy (mom), me, Brody, Dave, and Liz (sister)

the girls

L-R: me, Faith, Liz, Shoko, & Nori

Om Friday after Dave's family left, Mom (& Dad) made us a traditional Thanksgiving meal so Dave could have leftovers. He loves Thanksgiving leftovers! The meal that they made was DELICIOUS! As you can see we had quite a spread!

Nori, Shoko, & Liz....they had LOTS of fun catching up with one another since Liz hadn't seen them in awhile! I'm so glad they came!!! And Nori will be visiting again in a week and a half--yay!! =)

The three siblings, plus Brody! Together again at last!! I love my brother and sister so much!! I miss them when we are away!!!

David and Faith--SO CUTE!!! =) I am SO SO SO glad that Faith was able to come along with David... I really enjoyed meeting her last December in San Diego and had fun catching up. I hope to be able to see them again in May or June before Liz leaves for Japan.

As you can see, Brody was quite a hit this Thanksgiving!! =) We had to do LOTS of sharing for everyone to get their fill of him! He was quite the little trooper though and did very well considering all those people in a small house! We were so glad that everyone was able to come visit us and hope it can continue each year as it has for the past five!