Thanksgiving in Nampa

So, I kinda botched the picture taking at my family's Thanksgiving. I still think it's a good idea to document what I was able to get. We had the big feast at my parents' house. I have to say that I am enjoying being close to family this holiday season because we won't have to travel at all. I think it's 20 minutes to my parents' house from our apartment. Awesome, completely awesome. A huge improvement over 24 hours. Anyway, we had a big family turn-out. Liz and Jason and their daughters Syd and Maggie, Me and Robert with Nate, John and his wife Jessica and their son Little John, and David. The only one that wasn't able to make it was Krista. She stayed in Las Vegas and had Thanksgiving with some millionaire friends. I don't think she really missed us when she was experiencing that. We all brought a couple of sides and the spread was amazing. We barely touched anything because there was so much and we all just wanted to have a little of everything so we could taste it all. After dinner, Liz and Jason and the girls had to go visit with Jason's family and so the rest of us vegged and tried to digest.

This is John and my mom relaxing. They watched the toddlers while the rest of us played Pinochle.
I had to take my turn watching Nate so Robert got a chance to play some Pinochle himself. Nate was on sensory overload. Kids to play with, Grandma and Grandpa to spoil him, fun toys and so much food with sugar.
Jessica, Robert, David and Dad playing Pinochle. It's kind of my family's game. When we moved here Robert was a sport and learned how to play it. I just think it's karma for making me play so much Settlers of Catan in Arizona. (I loved it...most of the time! :))

One of the cutest things that happened that day was my brother, John, reading to his son and Nate. The book he's reading was one of our favorites growing up and it has in turn become a favorite of our children's. It's called The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear. It's out of print but my sister, Krista, was able to find 5 copies so all of us could have a copy for our kids and Mom and Dad could keep their well-worn copy.

It was a good Thanksgiving. No drama, which is somewhat of an accomplishment for my family. The food was great, the pies were even better (Mom, Liz and I made them all from scratch on Wednesday afternoon) and the company was fantastic.