Thanksgiving/Christmas Past

We have just enjoyed a very wonderful weekend with our entire family. What fun! Joel and Brenda were gracious to host the 17 of us on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and also on Saturday for our Christmas party. We all had a great time of fun food and fellowship. Joel cooked the turkey, ham and potatoes for Thursday, and the rest of us brought the other dishes. We all sat by tables in their dining/living room, and had plenty of room. What a delightful feast.
Friday was a busy day at our house with the HVAC people installing a new furnace ( an unexpected expense) but very necessary and working well. The plumber was here and now we have 3 working toilets in the house and all the sinks are usable as well as the tubs and showers. The painter has been here and is making progress too. The ceilings are getting painted today. Yippee!!
With all the activity going on Friday we all scattered. Everett, Elton and Ethan went into the woods and cut wood, and Ethan was such a helper pulling the handle on the splitter. He slept well that night. Lauri, Emily and I met Brenda and picked up Alex and Sydney so we could do some shopping, and then at 2:30 the 4 of us had pedicures, and Emily got her haircut at the Excel Beauty school on 29th St. It was fun and relaxing. That evening all the adults went to Arnie's on 54th and 131 and Alex and Syd babysat the rest of the kids at Brenda and Joel's house. It was a nice break for all of us.
Saturday we spent the morning getting the food ready for the 1 o'clock party and also
wrapped a few gifts, after making a last run through Target. We have a tradition of having appetizers as our Christmas party food, and that is enjoyable as the kids are far to impatient to sit down for a meal. The kids opened their gifts first, and they all seemed very happy with what they received. It took Emma a couple of presents to figure out how it worked and from then on all gifts were fair game as far as she was concerned. Later we had the children open their stocking stuffers and then the adults opened their stockings.
Sunday was the grand finale with dinner at our house after church. We let Costco do the cooking and had lasagna, french and garlic bread, spinach salad, with leftover desserts from Thursday. It was a lovely day, and too soon Elton and Lauri and kids were off to DeMotte. I had time late afternoon to get my Coffee Break lesson done, and Emily went to spend some time with Brett and Roxanne and the kids.
Emily and I had breakfast at Keiser's this morning, and then met Brenda and Emma at Home Depot so we could go right on to the airport. We dropped Emily off a bit before 10 AM and she must have gotten off as I have not heard from her. Brenda, Emma and I went to a few stores to check lighting fixtures, and then to my house so Brenda could work and Emma could have lunch, and take a nap. And so begins another week.