Thanksgiving and More

For Thanksgiving this year all of my family and most of my close extended gathered at our Grandparents house in Eau Claire, WI. They have a beautiful home that they designed themselves about 8 years ago. It's a warm, inviting place to be with lots of golden wood, cozy furniture and carpets, carefully chosen colors, and many little collectibles from a lifetime's experience. There were thirty of us in all, including eight children under five years old! I arrived at the airport on Tuesday where I met Melissa, David, and my parents. We flew into Minneapolis and took a shuttle to Eau Claire, which is about an hour and a half eastward.

David has grown and is looking much stronger now that he has started wrestling. He turned 16 this past Sunday. I can't believe my baby brother is old enough to drive and date. Melissa seems to like NYC and -- much to the dismay of the other riders -- we talked about music all the way to Grandma and Grandpa's.

The rest of the group arrived the following day. We gathered at the Holiday Inn where we had a catered dinner and could postpone the damage the little kids might do to the house. It was good to see aunts, uncles, cousins, and to welcome the new babies.

Grandma Quayle also decided to cater Thanksgiving dinner. A wise idea under the circumstances. This year she handed out written assignments early, and everyone did them! I know this shouldn't be strange, but in our family it's a rarity. The men actually cleared the table and did the dishes!

After dinner, Grandpa and Grandma Quayle had a real treat prepared. Grandpa should us slides of the theater and opera sets he designed! He also had the original drawings spread out over the pool table. I never knew he was such an artist! I was wonderful to see that side of him. Following the slide show they each gave us their written history. What a huge project and an irreplaceable gift. Truly priceless. We all spent some time with them that afternoon, and are sure to spend many more hours reading, laughing, and pondering over them in the future.

The rest of the day was spent playing games and watching the Pakers game.

Friday was my parents 33rd wedding anniversary. That's quite an accomplishment! Grandma helped us celebrate by making Swedish pancakes for everyone. Yummy! In the afternoon we had family pictures taken. Considering how many little children there were, it went quite quickly and was relatively painless. That night we played a terrible game of sister pinochle!! Just kidding. ;)

Saturday was spent visiting, shopping, and putting up the Christmas tree. It's always more fun to put up the tree when little children are around. It was nice to have that piece of Christmas. It's hard to find when you're in school.

I'm home now and I miss everyone. It was wonderful to see my family and I hope we can keep in better touch.