I'm Back and Blogging! Thanksgiving 2010

I know I am due for a big blog post, but gosh it's already December? Wow!

Pat and I hit the road early on Saturday, November 20th.  Destination: West Virginia.  My cousin Sarah and her husband Bryan kindly offered to have us stay with them for the night.  It just so happens they are exactly half way between my NJ and my TN home.  I hadn't seen Sarah and her little one Lucy in a year and had never been to their Lewisburg home.  The small town was beautiful and has a lot of history.  We were able to walk around a lot and grabbed a fabulous dinner.  And how cute is Lucy?!

Here is the nearby Greenbrier Resort which we checked out on Sunday morning.

And here is their gingerbread house version:

I'll go ahead and admit it now. Pat drove the entire way from New Jersey to Nashville. And the entire trip back (which we did in just one day!). I promise I offered to drive, but he was just in the zone. :o) So... we arrived at my parent's house on Sunday afternoon to beautiful weather and happy parents.  We had a great few days with Mom, Dad, and E and prepped for family to arrive on Wednesday. 


Wednesday was also the day of the most anticipated 13th Annual Thanksgiving Tea, hosted by my cousin Kendall (and my Aunt Ann).  This is an exclusive invite that doesn't come around every year, so I was pumped when I received my invitation several weeks ago.  It had a french theme and most of the invitation and the menu was en francaise.   



When we first arrived, my Uncle Jack was dressed in a tux, serving as the official photographer and there to help serve.  We had Kir Royales to start - here is Sarah, E, and Rachel enjoying theirs.  Mine was champagne free, with sparking grape juice instead.  Still yummy!

 The table was set and looked amazing:

Along with the personalized menus, each guest had an edible tea cup or "cup cake" and a party favor.

It was almost too pretty to eat, but I found a way.  Before eating this, we enjoyed cucumber sandwiches, Croque Monsieurs, smoked salmon canapes, cranberry scones, lemon tarts, chocolate covered strawberries, and of course tea.

Here are most of us, minus 4.  My little cousin Kendall is now a college freshman and towers over me.  I used to babysit her!  That was such a fun party and I'm so glad I got to be there.

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I usually only see my Dad's side of the family about once a year, on Thanksgiving.  So it was nice to have a few days full of visiting, games, and FOOD.  My Dad and Pat smoked a couple pork butts on Wednesday and we had a great meal that evening.

Cousin Peter III mid bite:

 E and sweet Libby

 Uncle Peter and cousin Tennyson

 Dad and Aunt Patty

 Libby taking down a gingerbread man.

Sarah's popular Lane Cake which we transported from West Virginia (since sadly she couldn't come).  This is something my Grandmother "Nanny" used to make and Sarah is the only one who still knows the recipe.

Thanksgiving morning we had 3 participants in the 5 mile Boulevard Bolt.  I opted to skip it this year because I thought it might rain. 

 E, Pat, and Uncle Peter earned all their Thanksgiving food. :o)

 Tennyson, Pat, Dad - under a massive tent we'd set up in the backyard (to avoid rain)

 Russell and Emily

 Libby and Henry

 Pat with a fried turkey (we had 2, mmmm mmmm)

 This year we didn't do 1 super long table spanning multiple rooms, instead we were seated at the main dining table, this kitchen table, and the kids at the kitchen island.  Here is E, Kate, Allison, Emily, Aunt Barbara, and P3:

 Main table: David, Gail, Aunt Patty, Bob, Uncle John, Dad, Uncle Peter:

It has been decided by Pat that I must learn how to make my Mom's frozen cranberry salad and her sweet potato casserole.  As always, the food was all amazing!!

We didn't get one large group shot out on the steps this year, but this is from Friday morning.

 And later that day, the rest of the gang:

 

 E and her precious dog Briley.

I'm mostly spent on blogging right now, but I promise to do another big post with pictures in a few days - all about my wonderful baby shower!

Lots of other fun stuff going on too - Straight No Chaser concert at the Beacon Theatre last night, dinner date tomorrow night at La Sirene, and a movie with girlfriends on Friday night (Pat has his company holiday party - no spouses)...until next time my friends.