Family Thanksgiving

     We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  It's one of my favorite holidays.  First, because we all get together for dinner with immediate family, in-laws, and friends who have no where to go, and second it is spiritually satisfying for me to give thanks for all our blessings.  Each of us told the group what we were thankful for.  Of course, health, family, and abundance top the list.  But our oldest (15) grandson was thankful he could read, and other grandchildren also had unique answers. I am very grateful for my memories.  As I get older, memories become more vivid and important.  

      As our children  married and had their own families, it became more complicated to get together.   Our daughter's in-laws live in New York, and every other year they go there for Thanksgiving.  Our other two children have similar situations sometimes where they go elsewhere.  This year, we  were all there.

     Our son Ken and his wife Samara hosted the dinner, which I should have photographed.  It was beautifully prepared and served, with the highlight being two turkeys; one roasted, and one fried.  Fried turkey is a new thing, but boy it was delicious.

     The day after Thanksgiving we all went to our new vacation home in Palm Desert.  It was the first time we had anyone  stay at the house, and the first time our kids had seen it. One son's family can't come until Christmas, but we were 10 having a great time.   Unfortunately, the pool pump broke, and the temperature was too cold to swim.  But, they had their digital devices to play with, brought their bikes and went riding, our son took a run early each morning, our son-in-law took a 100 mile round trip bicycle  ride (it's his thing..he rides in charity rides), we went shopping, went to great restaurants with the 10 of us, and to top it off, we went to a street fair.

     Palm Desert has a massive street fair on the college campus every weekend, rain or shine, winter and summer, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  It was fantastic.  They were selling everything from Dental tools (who would buy them?  Do it yourself dentistry?  UGH!) to Artisan made jewelry, clothing of all types, etc.  It was lots of fun walking around and buying things at great prices.  Next time I go I will take pictures and post them.  

   All in all, it was a great weekend.