Monday, November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving Weekend is Over, and Boy, Am I Tired!

He's back!

Yes, Thanksgiving at the Maison de Bilbo is over, the last of the family and friends have departed, and Agnes and I are getting used to a level of peace and quiet we've been unaccustomed to since last Wednesday ... but we wouldn't have traded it for the world.

This was the first time in many years that we've had almost the entire family together at one time. Only my youngest brother and his wife weren't able to make the trip, but we did get them on the telephone and everyone had a chance to talk with them.

I couldn't possibly sum up this week without pictures, so here we go:

First, the best picture of almost the entire group, taken after Thanksgiving dinner. Only two people were missing - our friend Nadja, who took the picture, and our sister-in-law Laura, who was temporarily missing. You may recognize me peeking from between my oldest son Jason and my Father.


The table arrangements. It took our dining room table, an additional six-foot folding table, and our four-foot-diameter deck table to accommodate the 15 adults. The other table, for the six children, is out of sight at the right of the far end.


And, of course, the food. No one ever goes away hungry from our Thanksgiving dinner. The bag of dog food visible at the left was offered to our nephew Eddie and granddaughter Marcy, who are notoriously picky eaters.


For dessert, our daughter Yasmin baked four pies: apple, cherry, pumpkin, and a glorious chocolate walnut pie that vanished without a trace very quickly. Here she demonstrates how to cut pies while keeping granddaughter Leya quiet and happy. Our son-in-law Vin supervises (having already overseen the baking and taste-testing).


On Friday and Saturday, we put up the Christmas tree and holiday decorations. We deputized the children to assemble the tree, put up the lights, and do the trimming ... amazingly enough, with all the frantic energy and children racing around at high speed, only two of our glass ornaments broke, and the tree didn't get knocked down once! Here's the finished tree and the decorating team - from left to right, granddaughter Marcy, niece Valerie and grandson Joe, nephew Daniel, and the foreman of the crew, our nephew Eddie:


We also celebrated Great-Grandpa Bilbo's birthday a month early, since we were all together. Our daughter-in-law Tabitha bakes a mean cake - here she is with the work in progress (and her eager helpers), followed by the end result with the Man of the Hour:


Granddaughter Leya practices junior dentistry on Grandma Agnes:


There had to be a photo with all the grandchildren - Noah, Marcy, Joe, and Leya with Grandpa Bilbo and Grandma Agnes:


A nice group photo shot by by good friend Bakr, who dropped by on Saturday to visit. Sadly, Yasmin, Vin and Leya weren't there to take advantage of Bakr's great wide-angle lens for those post-Thanksgiving-dinner group photos!:


And finally, I give thanks for the love and companionship of the greatest lady in the world:


You know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I'm glad to reflect on all that I have to be thankful for. Everyone had a good time, everyone made it home safely, and now we can get ready for Christmas!

I think I need a drink.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

5 comments:

The Mistress of the Dark said...

What a lovely family and a large family you have! I'd probably have been hiding somewhere if I were there...too many people! I'd feel claustrophobic!

Looks like you had a great holiday!

Amanda said...

Its wonderful to hear about your holidays. The photos really show how happy and loving the time together as a family must have been. Must have been so much fun. So, are you missing them yet?

John A Hill said...

Great photos and a wonderful weekend story.

Jean-Luc Picard said...

An excellent post, with some super group pictures!

Sue said...

Shiny, happy people holding hands...

You all look so happy and loving and all that wonderful family goodness stuff Thanksgivings are supposed to be about. :-)