Thanksgiving Our Way I worked Monday through Wednesday. The childcare kids are all sporting some type of cough or illness. My new baby, bronchitis. Another, ear infection. It’s made for some pretty demanding days. Our adult kids started arriving on Wednesday…and some into Thursday. It’s fun when our kids who don’t live close come home arrive during childcare hours. The childcare kids call Kayla the “other” sister. My kids are so good with the childcare kids. On one of Kayla’s visits she was knitting. The childcare kids were fascinated by it. One girl later had a long conversation with her mom about knitting and how the “other sister” showed her how. For our family, Thanksgiving is the “BIG” holiday of the year. When out kids started branching our and getting married Hubby and I sat down and made some plans….something like this. Our Easter get together with our kids happens on Palm Sunday. Thanksgiving happen Thanksgiving Day at noon. Christmas happens the Sunday before actual Christmas. It’s made it easier for the kids when they plan things with the “other” side of the family. We purposely only chose to Thanksgiving Day as the only day we celebrate on the actual day. Back when I was a kid Thanksgiving was my family’s “BIG” holiday too. I’ve said before that my sister belonged to a church that didn’t celebrate Christian holidays so her family wasn’t at other get togethers. Thanksgiving my sister did celebrate so my siblings and I all made a big effort to go home to my parents for Thanksgiving dinner. It was really the only holiday all of my siblings came to. When it came time for Hubby and I to pick holidays with our kids we decided to stick with my family tradition and made Thanksgiving the day we celebrate on the actual date. Other things that typically happen on Thanksgiving here… Popcorn balls….they are a must. That comes from my side of the family too. Pie…pumpkin of course. Kelli also requested apple pie so her husband Jason would quit bugging her to make one.

Karl did a little couch time with Ruby. They are big time buddies. Ruby loves it when the kids come home as they let her sleep in bed with them.

Show and share always happens with the kids come home. Kayla brought a pile of things she had crocheted that need the ends woven in…she’s prolific…all of it is for charity. Several blog readers have sent her yarn for her charity knitting and crocheting….anyone recognize something they donated?

She laid out a set of blocks she had been working on…. As I was snapping a couple pictures Kayla commented that she should have dressed up. I assured her that none of you cared if she simply wore her “home clothes” for these snap shots.

She also brought some sweaters home that she had thrifted and was unraveling.

She even had Karl and I winding her recycled yarn.

Here’s Kelli trying out a pair of magnifying glasses I tried for crocheting. She had brought some scraps of cross stitch fabric she had and was cutting a couple pieces for projects I have on my list.

Buck is a big kid and got out the Barrel of Monkeys and was hanging them from the dining room light. Honestly, that boy is a big kid at heart!!

I didn’t get a picture of Craig and Kalissa. I feel a little bit bad about that. I did get a picture of Carver though. Here is with Kelli. He was a hot commodity. Everyone kept teasing saying, “I can’t help (do whatever) because I’m holding the baby.

This year we opted for ham. Typically we’re a turkey family but this year Kalissa volunteered a ham and Hubby doesn’t care for turkey anyway. I’ll mix up stuffing as that’s my holiday favorite. Kelli is the dip maker of the family…Kayla the veggie maker… It’s never complete without pickled herring. Our family could eat herring by the gallon. By 6pm we had Karl and Kayla here…everyone else had gone to their homes. We watched some television and I cross stitched. So Thanksgiving 2016 is all done….it’s my perfect kind of day. It’s real relaxed and very casual.