Thanksgiving On My Side

Saturday we held the Thanksgiving Dinner for my side of the family at our place. Scott did the turkey, I made the Frozen Salad and Lemon Cheesecake Pie, Mark made the Pumpkin Pie and peeled the potatoes, Betsy made candied apples, and Mom brought the gravy.

Cassie was very excited about everyone coming over. Paige showed up first. I had everything done and was just waiting for Scott to bring the turkey so we could reheat it, so I had the chance to spend some time with Paige. Her brother, Dustin, stopped by to pick up a movie from her. We haven't seen Dustin in years and I invited him to stay and have Thanksgiving with us.

Finally Scott arrived with the turkey and, while waiting for that to heat, we celebrated Paige's 17th birthday. She opened her gifts receiving everything from a flash drive to movies to Calvin & Hobbes books to a popcorn popper complete with popcorn, oil and salt.

After eating our turkey dinner, we had birthday cake along with pie. Since I did most of the prep work for the dinner, the guys washed the dishes. Scott always refuses to dry my stemware as the first year we used it he managed to break one. He's been ribbed about that ever since.

Cassie was still fighting her cold and spent most of the time coughing, but she had a terrific time meeting Dustin and having her family around.

This was also the first family gathering that's taken place at our home since we adopted Eli. All morning he was nervous as I put in the table leaves, set the table, got out additional chairs and just generally picked up. (I followed Cassie's advice to put everything in a bedroom and shut the door. With her being ill I couldn't get the house picked up as I wanted.) He knew something was up. He kept hiding downstairs, then would return in a few minutes because he was curious about the goings-on. When guests began arriving he'd disappear for a bit, but would turn up again to get his full due of pettings. He managed to get himself into the middle of everything. However, after everyone left he sprawled on the couch and took a giant nap. He was worn out from all the attention and activity.

I was worn out too and managed to get Cassie and I bathed and into bed by 8:15pm. Since her bedroom was the one into which we'd stashed everything, she couldn't get to her bed. So she and I slept in the Big Bed along with Eli. As you can imagine, the first hour was spent whispering, giggling and coughing. But soon her Dimetapp and my Gabapentin kicked in and we were sound asleep.