Our First Thanksgiving

On Thursday we'll have our traditional Thanksgiving meal with the turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and Jello.  But you know the saying that goes, "Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first?"  We did that this weekend as Brian's family gathered at our house for a big Thanksgiving dessert party. Brian's mom plus his older sister, Amy, with her family and his older brother, Mark, with his family-- 19 of us in all--came together to eat and laugh and play and read.  Read?  Yes, read.  (More about that later.)  Apparently we were this weekend's "it" party because even Batman made an appearance.

For some, the food made the night.  It was a little hard to resist a big plate of chocolate chip cookies at eye level. 








I guess the food was a highlight, though.  With everyone contributing, we had quite the sugar feast.  There was pumpkin pie, 2 different varieties of chocolate pie, molasses cookies, chocolate chip cookies, caramel candies, cranberry upside down cake, gingerbread cake cookies (an old family recipe), coffee, and cold drinks.  It was enough to make your sweet tooth ache. 

After eating, the cousins congregated in Maddie's bedroom for the grand wedding of Barbie and Ken.  They were married in a ballroom and shared their big day with Puss-in-Boots and Kitty Softpaws...and since the boys and girls were playing together, the wedding got exciting when a few Nerf shots were fired off.  (The girls didn't necessarily think 'exciting' was the correct word to describe it.) 


Meanwhile the adults talked and sipped coffee and broke up a few kid squabbles, but mostly talked-- about work and movies and Christmas shopping and holiday plans and wisdom teeth and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition  and Survivor. 

Aunt Amy made friends with Alaine by agreeing to read her a stack of books.  Alaine is friends with anyone who will read to her.

Before everyone went home to tuck the little ones into bed, we snapped a little-bit-tired, little-bit-goofy, little-bit-grumpy, little-bit-happy photo of the cousins. 

This is what memories are made of.