Thanksgiving

We spent four days in the mid-west visiting with Gerry's family.  We stayed with Gerry's 86 year old mother, Ann, who lives in Glen Carbon IL.  It was a wonderful visit.  Mom Hans is doing well.  She gets around fine, though she does use a cane for walking any distance.  Mentally she is as sharp as ever.  Her memory is probably better than mine!

Mom Hans with four of her boys:  Phil, Gerry, Allan and Dave

We began Thanksgiving participating in the 4th annual Edwardsville Turkey Trot.  We started the trot at 8:30 a.m. when the temperature hovered in the 20s.   A mite chilly for this Southern Californian wimp!  I can no longer run, but I enjoyed walking the course.  Gerry ran the 5K in 27 minutes, good enough for 2nd in his age group!  (His age group is males 60 years and older.) 

Gerry after the race holding his turkey trophy

A few of our nieces and nephews joined us this chilly morning.  We even had a grand-niece and grand-nephew along, bundled up to stay warm.

My grand-nephew Logan and my grand-niece Olivia

Thanksgiving was held at Ginny's house.  Ginny is Gerry's older sister who lives in a beautiful house in Fosterburg, IL, near Alton.  This was the 24th annual year she has hosted Thanksgiving!  We had a record crowd this year:  38 people.  Our 38 included 29 adults and 9 children under the age of six years.

Some of the kids....




Jane, Mom and Ginny

Gerry and Jane

The recently engaged couple, Amy and Brendan

Ginny prepared a 25 pound turkey as well as an additional huge turkey breast, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.  The rest of us contributed wine, appetizers, side dishes and desserts.  It was quite the feast!

Finishing our post-turkey walk, along the corn fields on Ginny's property

You bet, I saved room for dessert!  Pumpkin pie, tiramisu, apple pie, pumpkin logs and more!
 

Owen is quietly content

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It doesn't get much better than spending a full day with a loving family, enjoying delicious food but most importantly, one another's company.