A PRECURSOR TO THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING…early!

This beautiful and yummy cheese ball and vegetable center piece, resembling a turkey, was created by Jan, the mother of my brother’s children. Yes, both Wade and I still share our lives with our ex’s, but it means a lot to our kids and grand kids. Truthfully, our ex’s are very nice people, as long as we aren’t married to them! We all get along quite well.

Yes, I have started eating so much lately that I need to pre-stretch my stomach for holidays, by attending a large feast at least three before the main event! So, we had a precursor Thanksgiving meal at mom’s Sunday.

My brother is only a holiday visitor, or at least that’s the way it seems of late, so, since he has to work Thanksgiving, we took this time to join together in family fellowship over some turkey and ham. Wade is an aircraft mechanic for Continental Airlines, working primarily on the cargo fleet in Charlotte, NC. He gets little time off, so mom tries to have gatherings around his schedule.

There were plenty of the traditional foods for everyone, with lots left over, even though there were some rather large eaters swarming the table like a pride of lions on a downed wildebeest!

Mom even got in some cooking lessons for Christy (in red top - Wade’s youngest daughter), teaching her the fine art of cornbread muffin and coleslaw making! You can tell by mom’s smile and clinched fists that she was thrilled to have the house full of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren again! It really tires her out these days, but to her it’s worth it to have those she loves near her. She’ll spend the rest of this week, cleaning, and getting things back in order! She’s a bit of a neat freak…not that I’m not!

You can see Brad (Danielle’s husband), Shane (Christy’s husband), and Wade (my brother) begin the circling formation. After a brief prayer of thanks, I join them in line. The men eat first in this family, unlike with Judy and the Dragons, who always eat first!

Christy made the “Butterfinger Cake”, and Jan (Christy and Danielle's mom) made the “Pumpkin Roll”! Both were very tasty! The rolls came in male and female versions, since some of the girls don’t like nuts in their punkin’ rolls!

Later, on the sun-room couch, Wade, Danielle (his oldest), her children Addie and Kaylee, and Christy (Wade’s youngest) squeeze in around Granny (mom)! Mom was where she had wanted to be since last Thanksgiving!

In the kid’s photo, you can see Jan hiding behind Kaylee and Addie. However, I caught a snap of her earlier as she shared photos with Wade, of the girls at the Knoxville Zoo.

Outside, Wade showed off his new Smith & Wesson .40 cal. semi-auto (under left arm). Nice piece!

Nope, no photos of Judy and me…we were there, but can’t prove it!