A Few Holidays Ago

So what does a lazy blogger do when she gets too far behind? I think she attempts to summarize the past month or 2 or 3 with a brief tale and a few key pictures. But her attempts are entirely futile, as her longwindedness and love of photographs takes over, and the next thing she knows, she's created yet another interminable post. It's a good thing that lazy blogger is not me, eh??

So we spent Thanksgiving (that would be Thanksgiving of 2009) in Memphis with my brothers. I now have TWO brothers living in Memphis, which is beyond awesome. That makes 3 of us siblings and my parents all living in one region of the country, or at least almost the same region.

We had a great drive there and back, with our traditional stops at Bass Pro Shops in Dallas, this time including a picnic on the boat dock. We enjoyed a light lunch of PB and bass sandwiches.

On Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law Cheri prepared an elegant feast, and allowed everyone to request a favorite side dish (sweet potatoes with pecans for me). It was all scrumptious. Here's the menu. Yes, she created a menu. Like I said, elegant!

On a nighttime visit to the Memphis Zoo, we played in fake snow bubbles and rode the carousel.


PJ walked about 15 miles that night, perfectly content trotting along beside Grandma or whomever would hold her hand.

We thought Ava and PJ were going to stage a mutiny when it was time to leave their cousins' house. They adore their cousins. I think Ava has a crush on Jared, one of her older cousins, as I saw her gazing adoringly at him on several occasions. And PJ was thrilled to find a 13-year old boy who so patiently helped her to dress up in fancy dress-up clothes. And of course Ava and Alana had a great time getting re-acquainted and having their 4-year old fun.

Ava on their sport court: "Mom! I'm getting so so so much exercise! Sorry, gotta go exercise! BYE!"

I wish I had pics of the spirited ping pong matches at Brian's new house. So much fun. By the end of that, I was thinking (rather unreasonably) of where we could possibly set up a ping pong table in OUR house.. The backyard, maybe...? I just know I need to sharpen my skills so that I can kick some ping pong butt next time. My mom was even smoking me (though she's really good, actually).

And no trip is complete without lots of cuddles and loving from Grandma (and Granddad, not pictured).