Thanksgiving and Laura's 21st Birthday!

Our Thanksgiving began with the arrival of our Boston contingent the evening of the 22nd. I thought I was going to sponotaneously combust waiting for Brian's family to arrive at Columbus airport. It was such a wonderfully warm feeling to see all of them walking down the hallway. The holiday had officially begun. We quickly collected their luggage and headed home to eat dinner. Though everyone was exhausted, we stayed up late talking and laughing.



The next morning began with the pitter patter of little feet coming down the stairs, around the bend, down the hallway and into our bedroom, with a stage whisper: "Grandma, wake up! We have lots to do." And so began the ritual for the next 7 glorious days. The first morning, Grandpa and Jocelyn made pancakes. Needless to say they were delicious! We played with games and toys for the rest of the day with a few outside adventures in the falling snow tossed in for good measure.

As hard as it was for me to believe, my baby turned 21 on November 23rd. This was The day!!! November 23rd! The day Laura had been waiting for all these years...........when she finally turned 21! Auntie Laura came home from her adventures at the Ohio State/Michigan game festivities including a splash in Mirror Lake in Arctic conditions, and the 21st birthday bash(at midnight!)with her buddies to a birthday dinner with all of us, rushed off to an indoor soccer game, after which she was taken out by her brothers for a short beer at a local pub with her official ID. Quite a birthday! What a weekend for her!

While Laura was at her game, the rest of the family enjoyed the Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. The entire zoo is dressed in beautiful LED lights covering every tree and bushes, animated animal shapes, and lights dancing to Christmas music, making it look like a Fairy land. We went to the warmer indoor exhibits as we walked along the paths. The zoo crowd had a fabulous time seeing the light show as well as the animals. This year the big attraction for Jocelyn was the aquarium. We looked for Nemo and Dory and touched a chocolate chip star fish, a horseshoe crab and some spiky sea creatures!

On Monday, after running some errands with Grandma, Jocelyn and I headed over to the Westerville Community Center for a few hours. We had a wonderful time swimming, going down the water slide, playing with the fountains, squirting the water cannon. It was so neat to be inside the water park watching the snow fall outside into the woods. Then it was time to go home to eat dinner. Megan and Brian went out to celebrate the anniversary of their first date. The rest of us were entertained playing pretend games like "driving a truck to the North Pole to help Santa" until it was time for bed.

Tuesday, we visited our local library to get some DVDs and couldn't resist looking at books. There were so many things to see and choices to make and it took quite a while to make our selections. We came home to have lunch with Mommy and Daddy. After lunch, we got dressed and drove down to the Polaris Mall. Auntie Laura met us there after her class. So here we were......4 adults and one very excited little girl on line to see the Man of the Season - Santa! There wasn't a line (we were a bit early for the season ...) so Jocelyn got to spend as much time as she wanted on Santa's lap! Afterward, we went to play at the Mall's indoor park. It was fun to run, slide and jump. Jocelyn held her own among some pretty wild kids. We left to get dinner ready for the rest of the family who, unfortunately for them, spent the day at work.

Wednesday dawned with snow flurries. We made some of the dishes for the Thanksgiving Feast and went to the pool. Aunt Laura joined us for today's wet event! Jocelyn showed her the ropes about what was fun to do. It was great fun to see the girls splashing together in the pool. Brian brought his Beer Meister skills to Ohio. Today was beer making day. The kitchen was transformed into a brewery for a few hours with lots of measuring, boiling, pouring, capping, and bottling. Needless to say, there was activity in every corner of the house from sterilizing the bottles to counting the caps to setting up the "brewery" in the garage. The house smelled "hoppy" for a while, but the result should be delicious. Brian involved everyone in the process which made it joyous work. Of course, the end product won't be ready for weeks, but the joy of the journey is in the ride, isn't it? The crew cleaned the kitchen to perfection so it was ready for tomorrow's events!

Thanksgiving Day was a day of gladness here on the prairie! Though this year has been very difficult for us, there was much to celebrate having the whole family together. We began the day with a huge breakfast courtesy of Grandpa and Jocelyn. The womenfolk were in the kitchen with some wonderful teamwork going on to pull the meal together. Laura was in charge of the veggies and Megan was the Queen of the Dough! I couldn't have completed the day without their expert assistance. The menfolk were watching the yeast do its job. Whatever floats your boat! Though I do have to admit, we girls had much more fun! After dinner, everyone played outside with the frisbee big enough for Jocelyn to hide under in the beautiful sunny weather.

Friday everyone was home from work and school. After much discussion, it was decided that the last day the whole family should go to the pool! I am not sure who had more fun. Brian and Dennis rode the water slides. Laura and Jocelyn squirted, poured, splashed in the water. They all went into the lazy river. Rus, Megan and I watched from the sidelines today. It was a wonderful afternoon. We had a big dinner. Afterwards, Megan and Brian packed up their things to go home. I could feel my heart beginning to shatter as I watched the toys being put away for the last time this week.

Five a.m. Saturday morning came much much too quickly. We began the process of getting the Boston Contingent to Port Columbus for their flight. Dennis and Laura woke to say goodbye to Brian, Megan and Jocelyn. Needless to say, it was heartbreaking to say goodbye to all of them. The house seemed so quiet when we stepped inside. Pepper was totally bummed for days, spending all his time sleeping, moping and looking out the window in hopes that they would come back again soon. Me. too!

From all of us to all of you..... We wish you a wonderful Christmas season filled with happiness and peace!