Bella had surgery Nov 15th to remove a benign cyst on her back. Dora kept a close eye on her after she got home...so sweet!
I went down to Mom's for a couple of days before Thanksgiving. She was drinking pink lemonade and I was teasing her about coordinating the color of her drink with the pink of her blouse which made her smile more joyfully than I had seen for a while.
Thanksgiving day we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the home of our nephew, Dave, and his family. There were seventeen of us...a perfect holiday group: Rich's sister, Marianne; his brother Joe & wife, Carol; Dave, Kristen and their kids, Sophie & Nick; Rob, Lisel and their kids, Zoe & Oliver; Jonathan; Kristen's sister and her two little girls visiting from the D.C. area; and Rich & I.
Their tables were beautifully set.
The star of the evening for me was this luscious platter of roasted vegetables that Kristen prepared...they were not only gorgeous to the eye, but delectable to the tongue! This was noteworthy simply because I do not like vegetables...hardly any, hardly ever.
The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend we had Marianne; Greg & Jenny; and Jenny's dad and sister over for a pasta dinner. It was a time to gather for the holiday since they had celebrated Thanksgiving at the home of Jenny's uncle and aunt.
Monday evening we combined the holidays, giving thanks and exchanging gifts at the home of our next door BFFs, Vic and Sandee. She made the most delicious Lemon-Feta Chicken and her famous mashed potatoes. Such gracious hosts...Rich and I even won the tie-breaker game of Hand 'n Foot!
Tuesday evening I ran errands with Jenny. Wednesday evening Marianne came out. She, Rich, & I had dinner at Applebee's before he left to play poker with the neighborhood guys; Jenny came out for a little while too. I guess it's obvious that we had a jam-packed couple of weeks before leaving on our southwest adventure...great times spent with family and friends!
Lovin' Life ~~ And All Those Left at Home
P.S. I'm still having connectivity problems so now it's after our lunch break at Joplin, MO and we have just entered Oklahoma in a light rain.
LIfe does just get crazy doesn't it?!?! I am hoping that the whirlwind will stop around here so that I can get some more posts up on my blog. So much to get done before the holidays now, I am not sure when my poor blog will get some much needed attention! If only we could get everyone healthy here, things would be easier. Been a rough fall, annoying persistent cruds.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you guys had some great family time before you hit the road though. We were talking about our trip to IL for the Holidays and Braden's face lit up as he thought about you guys. I told him we would not get to see you this time. He took it in stride, but I am sure his little mind is figuring out when he can next see the two of you. So glad that the boys are able to see their extended family even though we are so spread out.