Thanksgiving Afterglow

As an aside, it’s snowing today at our house (top pic), and we’re savoring its beauty. Notice the large flakes near the lens.

For retired folks like us who are grandmas and grandpas, and moms and dads, holiday get-togethers are a wonderful catharsis. The only problem is, they never last long enough.

All my wife and I have remaining from a very enjoyable Thanksgiving Day are memories – and they are wonderful. It’s therapeutic for me to reminisce about a few of them.

We had a wonderful last minute surprise this year when our son Gregg called the weekend before Thanksgiving and said they could come our way after all. Elaine’s brother and family would not be able to come north to Newberg, so now Gregg’s family could come to our place.

Our other son Doug and his wife Jamie had planned to come all along, and so we were thrilled to learn both families would be here. As an added bonus, Elaine’s mom and dad were able to join us (from Newberg, Oregon), and thanks to her dad, Kennard, an avid photography enthusiast, we have a beautiful photo remembrance of the event.

We had one entire remarkable day to all be together and try to catch up on what’s going on in everyone’s life. The sweet chatter of our three granddaughters provided a welcome involvement in all our proceedings.

Of course there was the wonderful meal, served in a beautifully decorated setting, in which Kay Lynne outdid herself yet again (how is this possible?). Those who came brought incredible “goodies” to enhance the feast – pies, beverages, candied nuts and treats galore.

Gregg and Elaine brought along their little dog, Jack, a delightful Jack Russell Terrier mix who quickly took over the household and warmed his way into everyone’s hearts. Jack hit it off especially well with Doug who has a special affinity for dogs. Our granddaughters really enjoyed the chance to play and clown around with “Uncle Doug” and “Aunt Jamie”.

Yes, the memories are now etched on our hard drives. Hopefully we’ll be able to do a search on demand when we’d like, but I admit to my hardrive being overloaded and somewhat fragmented at my age. Thankfully, we have the photos. Gregg, Elaine and the girls were able to stay a couple of extra days until Saturday, so we had some quality time together.

Pics are of Doug, Aubrey and Jack (above right), and (below) Hayley having some pie with her whipped cream and Talli playing her trumpet for us.