Thanksgiving at Grandma's

Although there was a lot of cooking going on

(not everything could be done ahead of time), I still found some time to give a "choo choo" ride. It started out as just moving a child on a chair to a new spot, then we discovered how easily the chair would slide across the tile floor. It didn't take long for everyone to pile on! And Alastair helped me push.And the grandkids loved helping vacuum, but with some different ideas of which area of carpet should be vacuumed next.

Then there was playing with Emma & Marta as they took their bath.
We wondered how Emma and Marta would react to Lily, the dog. The rest of the grandkids already like her, and she likes them--at least she likes the food that inevitably gets dropped near their chairs. We didn't need to worry. Marta was happy to see the "puppy dog!" and liked to pet her. Emma liked throwing a toy for her to retrieve. And whenever I sat down, Lily was right there. Sometimes she got to share my lap. She seemed to handle all the chaos just fine.I'll tell you, Grandma loved the whole week!

To Grandmother's House We Go

Thanksgiving, 2008

The fun began at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25, when Ryan, Jamie, Emma & Marta arrived from Colorado. Since they had driven through the night, mom & dad were ready for a nap but the girls were ready to play. They helped Grandma change the sheets to prepare for other arrivals, but somehow, there kept being "lumps" under the sheets. Along with lots of giggles!

Later that morning, Deborah and Adam arrived from Provo. The party began gaining steam! A puzzle was brought out, Kevin was home from work, and the games began. Emma and Marta liked Grandpa's airplane rides. Then on Wednesday, Catherine, Aaron, Connor, Brenna, & Alastair arrived from Wisconsin. Mealtimes became big affairs!

All the leaves were put in the table, and

it was placed end-to-end with the small kitchen table.

The kitchen became REALLY small.

The feasting began.

I was glad I'd put in all the pre-Thanksgiving work on building a menu.

All the grandchildren got along very well. Maybe it was because of all the fun

going on--

like seeing if Grandpa could lift them as they held on the broom. (He could.)

There was a constant hum of conversation, giggles,

and laughter all week long.

It was all a bit of heaven!