Thankful {Thanksgiving 2011}

A little Thanksgiving post...

We went to Melvin and Missy's for lunch on Thursday. It was their first Thanksgiving since being married and all of Melvin's family was coming over for a Thanksgiving lunch. Missy had worked really hard getting everything ready and was excited to show off her grand babies! The kids always have a blast a Missy's house. They live out in the country, on top of a hill with a beautiful view overlooking Seminole. The little boys love to run wild, ride the horses, and play outside. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal...turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and giblet gravy...I brought my baked potato casserole, Lacee brought a store-bought key lime pie (her absolute favorite dessert and "birthday cake") and Aunt Sheila brought her pea salad. Everyone had filled their plates and Shelia's pea salad was still untouched. She kept walking around saying, "I made the pea salad. Nobody is eating the pea salad." I thought that was really funny. We didn't stay long...the kids were getting really wild. I wanted Melvin's family to be able to enjoy themselves and be able to visit with Missy, plus we needed to to see my mom's side of the family before that Thanksgiving was over, so we headed to the lake for more family fun!

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Jeb and "the girls"

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 Jeb looks so thrilled that I'm sitting on his lap!

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 How cute is my baby girl in her Matilda Jane? This dress is called "Millie" and is a Platinum piece. I'm thinking now that the cream colored shirt would have looked much better under it, but the blue gives it some character.

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A kissy from Missy!

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 After a quick hello to the McKenzie girls and my mom's family, but changed clothes and got ready for family pictures with the Cook side of the family. My Grandma Lucy has been wanting a new family photo since LilliAnn and Josslynn were born and since Tara was recently married. Trying to get twenty-three people all smiling at the same time, especially with lots of little kiddos, was a nightmare! It was cold outside, we were in a time crunch because of the lighting, and Reid was NOT cooperating! He cried the entire time and I couldn't even bribe him into smiling for the pictures. We took several shots on our lake house stairs and some down by the water, so hopefully we'll have a winner!

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After pictures, we headed up the hill to Grandma Lucy and Papa Glenn's cabin for more delicious food. Papa fried a turkey especially for me and grandma cooked me a special pan of dressing, without the onions and celery. The turkey was absolutely AMAZING and I love grandma's dressing! I'm going to have to learn how to make it next year! And of course, the meal wouldn't be complete without Grandma Lucy's famous noodles. Dinner was delicious, the kids ate great and got their bellies full, then we headed down the road to Aunt Glenda's house for our yearly Thanksgiving family tradition...the making of the cheese apple. I did a post last year all about this "Family Tradition." If you're interested, click HERE!

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Reid helped a little last year, but was really into helping this year! Reid's a great little helper...he would always rather be "helping" than playing. Whether it's cooking, cleaning, "wiping," wrapping, sweeping, raking, weeding, mowing...he loves it all!

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 The six of us grandkids were all this age when we started helping with cheese apples at grandma and papa's old house of Dove Tree! It's really neat seeing our own children enjoying this tradition. 

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 Garrett and Tara just got married last month. It's only his second year to make cheese apples, but he's already a pro!

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 Reid's getting a lesson on how we "cute the cheese" from Nana Karen.

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 "the thinker" - my cousin William

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 It's all smiles for the Fun Master - Aunt Tammy

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 Jett Taylor 

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 Reid was showing everyone that his hands were "all clean!"

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taking it all in...

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 Nana getting some hugs from sissy baby

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 Josh - the garlic chopper

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 Isn't she gorgeous? She looks like she should be on Food Network or something.

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 Lacee had been full of expressions all day! She was cracking me up! This just really shows how much fun we have when we're all together...there's always something to laugh about! I love my family!

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 Garrett was digging the juice boxes :)

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 Tyler - taking a break and supervising (this is usually Papa Glenn's job!)

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 Can you say garlic? Aunt Glenda taught the guys that if they would run their hands on the faucet when they were washing their hands the smell would come off their hands. They couldn't believe it, but it really worked!

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We REALLY do have so much to be THANKFUL for!

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Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 106:1