Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We changed things up a bit this year and drove to Minocqua, WI (northern WI) to celebrate Thanksgiving with Reid's grandma at her house.  Reid's parents and sister with her family were also there. 

It was pretty low key and our entertainment was Anna, our 16 month old niece and Sammy.  The first thing Anna said when she arrived on Thursday was "puppy!" and continued all day long and this morning.  Sammy loved kissing and chasing her around.  Eventually, I think Anna started calling Uncas "puppy".  Those two really hit it off and it was a lot of fun to see Uncas play with Anna.

My mother-in-law did a fabulous job with Thanksgiving dinner (and with breakfast on Friday morning).  It's hard enough to prepare a big meal, but doing it at a strange kitchen makes it even more challenging, but she pulled it off.

Here are some pictures from the day:


Grandma with Sammy.


Apple pie and pumpkin pie - yum!



MIL taking a break from the kitchen.


Uncas with niece Anna.



Cuddling with Anna.


Tasty Turkey


MIL cuddling with her first grandchild


Anna helping sort through baby clothes


Four generations - Abbie (Uncas's sister, Grandma (Rita's mom), Rita (MIL) and Anna

Abbie brought me a bunch of baby stuff.  A huge box full of 0-3 month clothes (boy/girl/neutral), blankets, 2 breast pumps, 3 carriers, a car seat cover, bibs, hats, socks, and even more, but I can't remember it all.   Most of it went straight to the car, but I did go through the box of baby clothes.  Anna was helping me, when she saw me taking out the clothes.  Although her idea of "helping" consisted of picking up an outfit on throwing it on the ground.  I did have her model a couple of items (see picture above with bib and hat). 

With all the traveling that we do, I would have to say we have been fairly lucky with minimal mishaps.  Today, however, we had a little bit of excitement.  Uncas drove his car which is a VW Golf.  We stopped for gas at a small town in WI and happen to pull into a full service gas station.  The attendant filled up his car with gas. 

Major problem with that last statement; Uncas's car takes diesel. 

He specifically told the attendant that, but when the guy came to take the payment, Uncas realized the mistake.  Good thing he didn't start the car!  So, we had to wait about an hour for them to pump out the gas and then fill it back up with diesel. 

Everyone was super nice there, and we were able to wait inside their little shop with Sammy.  Fortunately Sammy was on his best behavior (I think he was utterly confused by the whole situation).  So after it was fixed, we went on our merry way.

Ten minutes later as we were driving something hit the windshield and put a huge circular crack in it!  We just looked at each other in disbelief!

The rest of the drive was uneventful, but we were never so glad to be home!  In the grand scheme of things, they were pretty minor incidents, although after the windshield thing, Uncas promptly asked me if I had my seat belt on! 

As I sit here and reflect on the holiday, I will admit that I am one of those cheesy people who likes to go around the table and make people say what they are thankful for.  I didn't this year because I know my FIL and husband would just roll their eyes.  But let me share with you what I am thankful for this year:

I am thankful that I was able to quit my job and pursue something that I really love to do.

I am thankful for my adorable puppy who makes me smile and keeps company during the day.

I am thankful for my friends and family who are constantly a source of support, inspiration and laughter.

But this year I am most thankful for my awesome husband and this little baby that grows inside of me. 

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