Thanksgiving 2011

Thomas ran in the annual Turkey Trot 5K which the YMCA puts together each year.

Of course I'm on the "wrong" computer to make the pictures come out right.  Sigh.  This is before the race, about 7 a.m.  He's going to do GREAT, I just know it :)

I was working for the Y that morning, helping people to pick up their race packets and then watching the kids left behind when their parent(s) went to run but did sneak out to get a picture of the crowd.

There were 500 runners registered and 423 that actually showed up to run (some of the registrations were for the kids' 1-mile fun run too).  Thomas was right out in front to start the race -- he's in the green cap right of center.

I left my post (again) inside 20 minutes after the race began and saw him already coming up the street!  (He did pass the guy in front of him in his sprint to the end.)

My dad was there, Tom, Thomas's sister Marie and his brother Frederick. . .all cheering him in these last few seconds.

I was (obviously) trying to get a picture of his time. . .officially it was 21:17.  WAY TO GO THOMAS!!!!  He ended up coming in 17th overall, out of those 423 runners -- yea!  So proud of him.

After the race was cleaned up and awards given (he placed 5th in his age category, 11-19) we headed home to clean ourselves up and head to our family about 80 miles west of here.  Nana and Grandpa Fred were here and went with us since it was the Bell family we were eating with, and my dad headed to Nashville because my sister and all of her in-law family was there for the weekend to celebrate the holiday at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

 Debbie's beautifully decorated table. . .

And one of my favorite things. . .her Thanksgiving tree!

 Cousins. . .















And brothers. . .

 

Grandpa Fred & Nana

Tom's beautiful cousin Debbie and me

And the entire family, all 20 of us:

We had lots and lots of food (of course):

 

We brought appetizers:  meatballs, chipped-beef cheese ball, and Dorothy Lane Market's spinach dip -- yum!

 

Patrick roasted a turkey, smoked a turkey, and fried a turkey.  Yep, that's three turkeys for 20 of us :)
And a self-service bar -- my kids are crazy about anyone that serves soda for dinner!

Time to eat!

The only pictures I have of Tom from the day. . .

Serving turkey. . .

and doing dishes. . .what a servant!

This picture cracks me up. . .the kids getting "instructions" on how to behave at the dessert table!!!

After the kids blazed through the adults took their turn :)

We brought cupcakes and Nancy made apple and pumpkin pies; Aunt Barbara also made a pumpkin pie and Patrick a carrot cake. . .look what the kids left for us:

Yep, the peanutbutter pie that we brought (of course) disappeared!

What a beautiful, blessed, full, happy, thankful Thanksgiving!!!!

Right Now

It is a gray, rainy day.  Right now it is drizzling.

 

Yea, you can't tell though, can you?

 This is some sort of kicking-the-balls-at-one-another game.  I was just taking pictures. . .and getting wet.

They love jumping on the trampoline when it's raining or snowing and slipping and sliding around.  Rain is better because they put on swimsuits or something else that is just as easy to dry. . .

 One of the kids even mentioned that it's November 21st and we're outside in our swimsuits!!! 

Weather.com says it's 64 degrees outside. . .good enough for me.

 

Will someone get hurt/mad?

Probably.  But I choose to remember the smiles.

And the energy burned :)

If they were in school and had free time they would not be allowed outside in the rain drizzle. . .they'd be sitting in the dark watching a movie.

Waiting at the door for towels

I prefer this.

New Basketball Hoop!

The post the grandpas have been looking for (and I don't even know that they read. . .but Nana and Mammaw will certainly point it out -- ha!)

Think maybe it was time for a new one???  The old one was a gift to the kids when we first moved down here 5+ years ago.  We've had a couple of nets, I've backed into the base, it fell over a few times (the wind down here can be wicked), and Grandpa Fred even tried to make a new backboard at one point.  Well, with Thomas making the basketball team at the school we're registered at and just the eyesore that it is in our driveway the grandpas got together and surprised us with a new system!

Oh, here we go with the sideways pictures again. . .ugh.  Think it might be this computer.  Anyway, putting this together last Sunday gave father-and-son a chance to spend the afternoon together!
(OK, switching computers. . .let's see if this helps)

 (Ha!  Changing computers helped!  Wonder why. . .)

This made me laugh. . .another instance where there is some identical dressing going on (not sure if it was on purpose like last time)
They got it up. . .

Another white t-shirt!  Tom's starting a trend --ha!

Look at Michael Jordan. . .a.k.a. Frederick. . .watch out Upwards!

 

It was *windy* out there!

Yea, she can shoot a pretty good ball too :) 

THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH, GRANDPA FRED AND GRANDPA FOSTER, FOR THE AWESOME NEW BASKETBALL SYSTEM!!!!!

We Now Have a Teenager in the House

 

Happy 13th birthday Thomas!  

It was a full day. . .I am tired.  I think you are too because we sent everyone to bed at 9:45 and haven't heard a sound since.

I got the chair picture with you holding up "13" on your hands but it keeps turning sideways and I don't have the patience to figure it out right now. . .

 

I only have 1/2 the days' photos downloaded and edited. . .while Margaret was at gymnastics tonight I loaded the pictures we had already taken (thank you for getting your chair picture first thing!)

You all began the day with a little basketball before Community Bible Study.

And you talked everyone in to a picture -- thank you!!!

And Marie even took one of us. . .remember how we were comparing our heights in the mirror this morning before we put shoes on?

On our way to CBS we made a quick stop at Ralph's so your could treat your teen class today:

We went to see It's A Wonderful Life (put on by our local children's theatre) this afternoon with our co-op group and then you had a few free hours at home before basketball practice.  I let you open Grandpa Foster's gift early because it was something you could do with your siblings for the afternoon.

And lastly, before I wrap this up, you insisted on cupcakes tonight, but "not made from a box and not frosted with frosting from a can".  You wanted something "special", but not chocolate.  So I searched and combined some different recipes I found.  I baked these: (which I originally saw here)

(And I cheated. . .they started with a boxed mix. . .and then I added in a bunch of other stuff)

Then filled them with peanutbutter cream:

Then put the "lid" back on:

And then made the suggested buttercream icing that came with the cupcake recipe and frosted them:

And this is where my pictures end.  I took you to your basketball practice at 5 and your dad picked you up at 7.  I don't know what you did between 7-7:41 when the rest of us finally met up with you at your restaurant choice tonight, Chili's.  It wasn't a good experience. . .we didn't end up having to pay for our meal.  You chose it because of the onion rings.  Ugh.  We did bring your gifts and you got to open them there (glad we had something to do while we waited 1/2 hour for our food in an empty restaurant).You got money (what else do teenagers want???), a new soccer ball from Daddy, a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book that came out this week from your siblings, I'm going to take you to a movie after work on Tuesday night, Nana & Grandpa got you a watch band holder for your nano, Aunt Jodi bought you some Under Armor running pants and Grandpa Foster sent you $20 to buy a new basketball (way cheaper then trying to mail one!!!).  When we finally got home after 9 p.m. we put 13 candles in your cupcakes and sang to you.  I haven't seen the pictures yet because your dad was taking them.  You liked the cupcakes, which made the time and effort I put into them worth it :)  I actually saved 15 of them (unfilled) for Thanksgiving next week -- your dad suggested a cream cheese filling for those. . .

I love you, Thomas.  You are a fantastic son, an awesome big brother, and a special nephew and grandson.  This morning I told your dad that 13 years ago today I could not have imagined this life that we now have together but had I been given a glimpse, I would have been overjoyed to see the richness and fullness of our life (and probably a little scared about how fast time was going to go!)  The next thirteen years?  I'm sure it's beyond our small imagination but I look forward to sharing them together with this incredible family that God has so perfectly put together.

Happy Birthday!!!