Thanksgiving 2009

What an event! This year, we traveled to Saluda, NC, to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Hamilton family. In attendance were Doc and MyGoo, the Trey Hamiltons, the Gregory family, GGMama, the Williams family + Rene (Mary Canon's boyfriend) and, of course, us. My little brother, Robert and his wife and kids couldn't make it this year. Robert just recently started a new job, and he wasn't able to take time off so soon. It was, to say the least, a very full house. GGMama literally slept in the closet. (She refuses to take up a whole bedroom by herself, so MyGoo and Doc put a twin bed in their enormous closet to appease her!).

There was never a dull moment. We arrived about midnight on Wednesday and were happy to see so much of the family still awake and waiting for us. Thanksgiving day was full of movement as people took turns cooking, cleaning, and entertaining young children. Canon and I were not very involved in this part of the day. Instead we let Barry represent our family in the festivities while we took a two-hour nap. We woke up just in time for the big meal. I unintentionally packed some Turkey & Veggies baby food for Canon, so he was able to enjoy the meal with us. He also had his first taste of real sweet potatoes.

I can't be certain, but I think he enjoyed it.

He was pretty pooped once it was all over, so he took another nap with MyGoo.

The next day was reserved for the Iron Bowl. We did some mild shopping in downtown Saluda and lunch at the Purple Onion before returning home to watch the game. All the kids donned their Alabama attire for the event. Roll Tide! I should mention here that all of the men in the house (excluding my uncle who grew up in Georgia) are rabid Alabama fans, while MyGoo and her sister, Deborah, grew up just outside of Auburn and share GGMama's love for the Tigers. Things remained civil, however, and there was an enormous sigh of relief when Bama scored with less than two minutes left to pull ahead by 5. I think even the Auburn fans would agree that the Tide's win made the rest of the weekend much more pleasant.

After the game, it was family picture time. MyGoo wanted one good picture of all her grandchildren for her Christmas card. Of course, Graham and Avett will be added later, but we made it our mission to take one decent photograph. When a camera is pointing at Canon alone, he's generally pretty happy. He'll smile or at least do something interesting. When Canon is with a small army of people and cameras are flashing, his cheeks get heavy and pull his mouth into the deepest frown you've ever seen. Case in point, the Halloween pictures and now . . . Thanksgiving. At least he didn't cry in any of these.

This is all of us trying to get these poor children to smile.

MyGoo and Doc with the grandkids. GGMama with her grandkids. Several years ago, Trey missed a Thanksgiving gathering because of some commitment he had while in college. My grandmother is notorious for the singing toys she collects from year to year. That particular year, she received a singing turkey. Because Trey wasn't there, we posted a sign on its belly to remind us in the years to come that Trey did not make that particular Thanksgiving event. As fate would have it, this same turkey somehow made it to the mountains this year, and wasn't it fitting that we needed him to represent our baby brother for this year's family photo?

After pictures, the young children opened a few Christmas presents from the family, and we celebrated GGMama's 89th birthday. Aunt Deborah baked the most delicious cookie-dough cupcakes!

About three weeks ago, my dad had emergency surgery to remove his galbladder. As he is still in the recovery phases, he is not able to lift heavy loads or do any strenuous activity. For those of you who do not know my dad, this is a real challenge for this man who never sits still and does everything on his own. I was surprised to see that, for the most part, he obeyed doctor's orders and delegated responsibilities to the younger generations. I think it helped that Canon wanted to spend some quality time with him. If you haven't already noticed, Canon and Doc hung out quite a bit.

It was really a great weekend. The only thing that would have made it better was if Robert, Dauren, and their boys had been able to make the trip. I guess that's what happens when a family gets this big . . .