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#Post#: 10066--------------------------------------------------
11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: Jack Date: November 19, 2018, 3:11 pm
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My cousin Andy dropped his kids off yesterday afternoon. While
Chris and Marcus (and Chris' wife, Terri) are all teachers, to
they're home, my nephew, Jason and his wife do have to work, so
they dropped their three boys (Jake - 13, Andy - 10, and Ollie -
7) off yesterday evening, and they're going to stay here the
next couple of days. Billy is also here from now until
Wednesday, so Emmet is also staying with us for the most part.
Of course, PJ has to work today thru Wednesday, so Jake and Ryan
Tucker will be here until Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, and
their friends and neighbors, the Henderson boys (14 year old
Kelly, 13-year old Dylan, and 11-year old Brennan will be here
during the days, and are staying over at least tonight.
Of course, we'll have plenty of other guests during that time,
including some new friends we've just met (whom I'll try to
discuss elsewhen and where).
Between now and Thursday/Thanksgiving, it's supposed to be dry,
but our daytime highs are only supposed to be 61F/17C.
Using tents for Thanksgiving is something we've experimented
with. To be honest, while it's not required, it is convenient.
We have room to feed everyone in the house, but that means
separating into several groups, and it takes up space where
people could otherwise be congregating. What we've found best
is if we eat banquet style in the tent, and then we can use the
rest of the house to visit, but we also have the tent for a big
visitation area as well, so there's plenty of room to spread.
Since it's supposed to be chilly, if not actually cold (during
the days), and since we have the tent reserved for when it's
actually busy, I had the crew come out and set it up today. The
boys have responded by setting up a number of ongoing games on
the tables out there. You can't really lock a tent, but they
can be secured from pests that don't have opposable thumbs, so
we just don't leave anything valuable out there. (Or, since it
will only be chilly, some of the kids might end up 'camping
out'.)
Anyway, things are pretty busy (which is why it's taken me over
three hours to finish this short post), but they're busy in a
good, fun way. If they stay (reasonably) calm, I hope to
actually get some updates and writing done over the next few
days.
#Post#: 10069--------------------------------------------------
Re: 11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: Zyngaru Date: November 19, 2018, 4:35 pm
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Chilly and Cold are relative I guess as to what you are used to.
20's F at night and 40's F during the day. Its also a wet cold,
no sunlight but misty/cloudy all day.
I saw on the weather channel that the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
in NYC this year will be a high of 24 degrees F. With wind
chill they are going to be standing out in what will feel like 6
degrees F.
We are running about 10-15 degrees cooler this year than normal.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving for those who celebrate the
Holiday. If this isn't a Holiday in your country, go ahead and
have a nice meal on Thursday anyway and give thanks for the
blessings of your life.
#Post#: 10077--------------------------------------------------
Re: 11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: kalico Date: November 19, 2018, 7:51 pm
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Busy busy put sounds like good times
Enjoy your time with the kiddos....
Have all your collyboys come home???
Hugs kal
#Post#: 10084--------------------------------------------------
Re: 11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: Jack Date: November 20, 2018, 6:38 am
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[quote author=kalico link=topic=959.msg10077#msg10077
date=1542678719]
Have all your collyboys come home???
[/quote]
The college boys don't have a full week of vacation. Many of
them will be home tonight, since their professors don't really
want to work the day before the holiday either. The rest will
be home tomorrow at some point. I think Mickey is the last one
home, and he should be here around 7pm this evening.
#Post#: 10104--------------------------------------------------
Re: 11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: Jack Date: November 21, 2018, 6:35 am
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I forgot to mention, when I made the first post, that Joel has
headed home to spend a week with his folks. Since his parents
now live much closer to his grandparents and the rest of their
family, that should be a good time for them all. That's
probably a good thing for us as well. Joel has always been one
to test his limits a bit. I'd hoped things would calm down
some, now that football season is over, meaning he doesn't have
marching band performances every week, on top of everything
else, but the free time just seems to encourage him some. He'll
be back Saturday, then we'll have just over three weeks, so
maybe the break will help things there.
On the other hand, not flying home are Christian and Jake Hogan
aren't flying home. They're both here, and Jake especially has
been one of my favorite kids for as long as I've known him. I
did offer to fly them home, but the flight times would have made
it a 'flying visit', since their parents aren't close to a major
airport, and considering the holiday traffic, and they just felt
they'd rather not try it. To be honest, I know both boys have
had strained relationships with their mom (if you remember,
Christian lived here for most of his senior year), so that might
have had something to do with their decision to stay here. They
do miss their sibs, but they seem happy enough to be here with
old friends.
As for the other boys, Mickey will be the last one home. He had
some things to do this morning before he could leave, so he
won't be here until about 7pm. Greg and John will both be
arriving much earlier, and should be joining us for lunch.
Everyone else arrived last night.
It's always good to see your kids growing up and becoming
successful adults, but it's always good to have them home again.
#Post#: 10131--------------------------------------------------
Re: 11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: Jack Date: November 22, 2018, 7:00 am
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Thanksgiving Morning
This is always an interesting morning.
Thanksgiving is really about the family and about taking time to
really be thankful for what one has. However, that focuses
around a huge feat.
Our family will start to arrive between 10:30 and 11 o'clock.
Until then, some of the boys will be in the kitchen, but there's
not much for most of us to do. I was never one to sit still
long enough to watch a parade, though some of the boys like to
do that. Mostly, we'll all be meandering around and waiting.
On top of that, we won't start eating until after noon, so
everyone wants a balance between 'not starving' and 'already
being full'.
It's 6:50 as I write this, and I can hear a few people stirring,
but it's quiet now, for the most part. We had guests last
night, since this morning is nothing special. I do need to go
make sure a few of them are up, as they'll be picked up early to
make family visits.
Mikell and Nita are having their own Thanksgiving meal today.
Steve and Tommy will be spending Thanksgiving with their
in-laws. Other than that, it looks like everyone will be able
to make it today for at least a few hours, and all my brothers
and their families will be here as well.
For the record (and for leftovers, hopefully), we're having 12
turkeys (two smoked, two roasted, two baked, three smoked, two
fried, and one Cajun fried), 3 hams (one smoked, one honey
glazed, and one sugar glazed), and a brisket. I'm not even
going to try to list all the sides.
#Post#: 10133--------------------------------------------------
Re: 11/19/2018 - Thanksgiving and Family
By: kalico Date: November 22, 2018, 8:08 am
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Happy thanksgiving to you and your....
Sounds like allot of yummy food ENJOY!
Hugs kal
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