Just the Ten of Us

Happy Thanksgiving! We kept it low-key and casual. It was just the ten of us. We asked the kids what they were thankful for. Gracie just gave us big eyes and pretended to be shocked by the question and had no answer. My little drama queen, acting all of the time! We all laughed and moved on. We asked Charlie and he couldn't answer because his mouth was full. Libby's turn to answer. She said "My family" and we all said "Awwww!"  Can't top that answer!

I am thankful for all of them, and for this opportunity to be together. I'm especially thankful that Andrew is home early from his deployment and can spend the holidays with his wife and children.

Alfred truly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He ate and ate and ate! When Katie didn't feed him fast enough, he threw his plate.

The food was super delicious! As always!  My husband makes everything and he is the best holiday chef. He does all of the grocery shopping, all of the prep work and all of the cooking. He's amazing!  I do the dishes.

After dinner, everyone was miserably happy and full. But, I whooshed them all outside for a quick and casual family snapshot before I would let anyone have any  pie.  They didn't want to, but they did it anyway. I really appreciate their cooperation! It was great to get a photo of all of us together! Nobody was ready, everyone whined, except Alfred, and they probably all hate me for making them do it. But they are the biggest bunch of whiners when it comes to pictures. My method of surprise attack seemed to work well. They are going to whine and be uncooperative whether they are ready for a photo or not, so I just sprung it on them and only had to listen to a few minutes of whining instead of a full day's worth.

The picture turned out fabulous! It's like we planned it or something! My husband, one of the most unwilling participants in the 5 minute photo shoot, had the photo as his facebook cover photo before everyone got back into the house. In one day, it has 99 likes! But most of all, I am so super happy to have it! They did it for me and that means the world to me! Love them all so much!

I don't understand why all families have beautiful family photos except us. All the hard work that I do for the family, all of the worrying and stress and sacrifices, and they never want to smile for a picture in appreciation. Pulling a fast one and withholding pie was out of necessity.  Which is odd, because we really do have a wonderful time together and everyone is so happy to spend the holiday together. Every time I look at any of them, they are all happy enjoying time together. Also, they take pictures of themselves all the time! Why not together? I have no idea.

I finally understand my mother.

Time for pie!