Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner was nice. Almost everyone on my mom's side of the family made it, including Ben and Shana, so it was really good to see them again. Hope and Jeff and company couldn't make it, neither could Kim and Steve, but otherwise, everyone was there - grandparents, parents, grandkids and great grandkids. All in all about 23 people showed up, me thinks, and it was really nice to catch up with the rest of the family.
The weather was awesome, too. Temps in the lower 50s with mostly sunny skies. Grampa and Ben took Shana (along with quite a few others who tagged along, myself included) on a tour of the farmstead and barn, where first Kim and Steve (aunt and uncle) got married, then Sara and Matt (cousins), and then any number of other unrelated young couples who rented the area for their weddings and banquets before Gramma and Grampa decided to stop renting because it was getting too hard to keep up with demand. Then we spent a good hour or so standing around outside and catching up/trading stories/chasing the occasional runaway toddler (Henry - Sara and Matt's year and a half old - mostly, but Dawson - cousin Robin's oldest - got away a few times too, most of which occurred when we were trying to get a family picture. It was still fun, though, and seeing everyone again was great. It was especially nice that Ben and Shana could come up for the day, because most of the family hadn't seen them at all since they left for California in 2003. Now they're back in the mid west living in Aurora, Illinois, so it wasn't such a trial to get up here for the holidays.
So, yes, fun day, in which everyone seemed to get along, despite all the past difficulties there have been. I think I can safely label it a successful Thanksgiving. :D
The weather was awesome, too. Temps in the lower 50s with mostly sunny skies. Grampa and Ben took Shana (along with quite a few others who tagged along, myself included) on a tour of the farmstead and barn, where first Kim and Steve (aunt and uncle) got married, then Sara and Matt (cousins), and then any number of other unrelated young couples who rented the area for their weddings and banquets before Gramma and Grampa decided to stop renting because it was getting too hard to keep up with demand. Then we spent a good hour or so standing around outside and catching up/trading stories/chasing the occasional runaway toddler (Henry - Sara and Matt's year and a half old - mostly, but Dawson - cousin Robin's oldest - got away a few times too, most of which occurred when we were trying to get a family picture. It was still fun, though, and seeing everyone again was great. It was especially nice that Ben and Shana could come up for the day, because most of the family hadn't seen them at all since they left for California in 2003. Now they're back in the mid west living in Aurora, Illinois, so it wasn't such a trial to get up here for the holidays.
So, yes, fun day, in which everyone seemed to get along, despite all the past difficulties there have been. I think I can safely label it a successful Thanksgiving. :D