Thanksgiving 2009

We enjoyed a group of 14 around the Thanksgiving dinner table this year.

After much time in the kitchen prepping food, we had dinner around 1pm, and this is the first year I soaked my turkey in a brine the night before cooking it - and I think it really made a difference in how moist the meat was.

Aunt Debi played with Elise in her little kitchen and made some "food" for us all as we were prepping in the kitchen.
My mom (middle) and her two sisters - Elaine (left) & Leesa (right)
You can never have too much food at Thanksgiving, right? So, in addition to the full meal, we had a few appetizers & punch...yum. Let the holidays begin!
A happy crowd!
A little help from family to decorate some sugar cookies...nice, Paul.
Ah, yes! Elise is at such an impressionable age, and Paul was teaching her how to be a "gangsta".
On Saturday night we went out for pizza in Uptown Charlotte.
Aunt Jodi and Elise.
Paul and Jodi.
Me & Curt
What a wonderful week! Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as we did!

Visit to the Low Country...

The weekend before Thanksgiving, my aunts & uncles flew into Charlotte to spend a week celebrating with all the family here. Loren & Leesa made the trek from Colorado Springs & Ron & Elaine came from Mt. Lake...I might add, this was Ron & Elaine's first flight EVER!! And they told us that it couldn't have gone better...now we'll have them traveling all over.

We started our week of Thanksgiving by spending Sunday - Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina.
Our first stop in Charleston was the Hominy Grill for brunch on Sunday morning.
Next, we did 2 house tours in the historic city - the Aiken/Rhett house & the Nathaniel Russell house. It was a bit drizzly outside, so these were great ways to take in some of the sites and stay dry.

Our accommodations at the beach were very luxurious!! We enjoyed our 5th floor suite (4 bedrooms/4 baths) and made sure everyone was a little pampered.
Ron Becker on the 18th Hole at Wild Dunes.
Group Shot on the beach - we made the most of our time...and found several whole sand dollars. Very rare.
Love this shot! Loren was helping Leesa to carry her flip flops.
Before we left, we took a carriage ride through the city and got one of the most coveted tours - the tour by the Battery, which includes the waterfront park & rainbow row in Charleston.

It was a great 3 days of laughing & taking in the sites...

Historic Homes Tour

Catching up...
At the beginning of November, my mom, John and I took a historic homes tour here in South Charlotte. We visited the Community House, log cabin, the Blakeney house (which we drive by every day) and several other historic homes and a historic church.
It was a nice way to get to know the history of our area. Most of it was cotton farms, and was certainly a bit different than our sprawling city today.

Raindrops and a Fairy...

It has been awhile since I've posted...so sorry. Here's a few pictures from our last weekend in October.
John helped Elise carve the pumpkin.
Checking out her new "fairy skirt" - Elise is really loving playing dress up, and this was the first year that she really understood that she got to wear a costume and go out to get candy.
Coming down the stairs - the full fairy effect.
Elise also is very into "matching" things - and here she was showing us that her pumpkin pail matches the real pumpkin. The weather was very unusual Saturday - it was around 71 degrees, overcast, and humid. Shortly after we left the house, it started pouring rain...but we had our umbrellas and Elise loved it! She made sure her fairy wand and pail of candy were covered...




We arrived at mom and dad's first - to test out the "trick or treat" routine...and she did so well. She went to each door, rang the doorbell, and as soon as they answered, she would announce, "trick or treat".

Hard to believe how much she's growing up!
Raindrops & a fairy...