Happy Thanksgiving with the Morris extended fam

This being the first holiday following Mark's father's passing, we thought it might be nice to invite some family members here for Thanksgiving. I titled this as the Morris extended family, but really it was Mark's mother, sister, her husband and their 2 kids- which without us, totals up to fewer people than are in our little immediate family. Usually a true Morris gathering involves his aunts, cousins from either side, some friends, some other distant cousins that I can't keep track of and invariably embarrass myself not remembering, and kids that Nana tutors. Which is still smaller than my family-of-origin gatherings are now.

So it was a small group. The children had a great time being together and Uncle Kelley was the hero of the day for playing kickball while we cooked and cleaned. Actually Mark was the true hero for working like crazy at his job weekdays and weekends, and then when he finally got a day off, he worked like crazy in the kitchen with me, and then after dinner, when the rest of the adults collapsed from stuffage, he enlisted the children to help him out. They actually did a pretty good job!

'Twas the night before T-day, and the children could not tear their eyes away from a movie to say "cheese". Even Max pretends to love it. (Don't be fooled! He won't watch more than 15 seconds of Elmo)

Max and Kayla giving hugs. This looks contrived, but it's really not. Max is very huggy. Kayla consented to hug him by the end of their visit here.

The dinner: mashed potatoes, rolls, turkey, greens, gravy, green bean casserole, salad, cranberry jelly, cornbread dressing, potato salad, fruit salad, and macaroni & cheese. It was a merger between North & South.

One thing I realized is that Thanksgiving favorites are almost always what you're familiar with- not so much about taste as about tradition. My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is mashed potatoes or a yummy fruit or green salad. But others did not even take those items because they were saving room for their favorites: collard greens and potato salad, which I'll take more to be polite than out of preference. Some basics are popular with both groups though: rolls.

I accidentally deleted the picture of the desserts. Much woe. Dessert is really the best part. We had pumpkin, apple, and german chocolate pies, as well as 7 up cake (with strawberry frosting, a new Rewa addition) and Oreo Cake.

The group. We brought in the kiddie picnic table so we could all eat together.

We had a good time with Mark's family and watched more football than I've seen in the past ten years, but it was a good weekend for football. The children really enjoyed each other and the weather was great, so they dug holes in the backyard and filled them with mud. Good cousin memories.

My sister-in-law Alice and her son Charlie Choo were here visiting her parents for Thanksgiving, and they came to dinner on Sunday. We had fun with them- my kids would not leave her alone, though. Here's Katrina showing off her nightgown my mom made for her and a matching one for her Julie doll as a birthday gift. Julie's not in the picture- that's Charlie.