Happy Thanksgiving!

Well today was the big day. By "big," I mean the day I put on about 10 pounds from various foods and desserts (including the mystery pie) In all seriousness, its a great day to give thanks and see members of my family that I don't get to see all that often.

My mom hosted dinner tonight at her church, which was great of them to let us use their building and kitchen for our large group. One of the high points of the evening for me was the opening toast, where we went around every member of the family and we all made a toast to something that we were thankful for. I was really impressed by some of my nieces and nephews who gave answers like "my parents" and "my brothers and sisters." My youngest foster sister, Tiffany, said she was thankful for school (and she was serious to boot) Stephanie, the older foster sister, said that she was thankful to have the family she was now a part of.

Then there were answers like that given by my stepsister Lori, that she was thankful for her new dog. I was seriously blown away that the oldest of the children was the only one to give something completely material as something she was thankful for. Her husband Matt seemed pretty unimpressed.

PIX!

Mom, Michelle, Tiffany, Stephanie, Traivs, and Grandma
(I think the girls were just pretending to eat for this photo shot)

Rick, Lori's kids, Lori the Dog Lover, and her husband Matt

The back of my wife's head, Adam's parents, and Adam
(Melissa is hiding on the center-left)

Here's the kids hard at work at the craft table
(awesome idea on my mom's part, I must admit)

Their creation, the four-legged turkey
(......)