The Year of Three Thanksgivings

Round One

My mom and dad-I love them ♥

For Thanksgiving this year my mother's side of the family planned a very large gathering, thanks to my cousin Cherri, for planning and organizing it.  This is the side of the family I grew up with, going to family reunions with and hanging out at grandma and grandpa's house with.  The challenge for me was trying to juggle my time between two families.  Last year we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on a much smaller scale and so of course it was to be Mark's turn for us to celebrate with his family.  Well, with so much family coming and me not wanting to miss the opportunity to see them and visit with them I made it work to attend two dinners.  I hung out with my family for about 1 1/2 hours and then headed over to Mark's family which gratefully was only about a ten minute car ride away.

My cousin Cherri-the mastermind planner and organizer.

My sister Kareena and her two daughters, Kari and Tiffany

My dad and my cousin, Roman.

My cousins darling wives.

My cousin Derrick and his mom, my Aunt Pam.

He's a special boy. Seriously though he is one lucky guy to be alive after a very serious car accident about a year ago which broke his neck.  His mom says it's a miracle he's not a quadriplegic.

More cousins-Krystal (with her new husband) and Kindra and her baby.

A cousin's wife, Rachel and her son.

My sister Marie, my bro-in law Bill,  my cousin Pepper (with her mouth open), and Aunt Bonita

What a cute son! I love you Cooper.

Puzzle games to wrack our brains

My cousin Prenten and my cousin Josh's son. (Does that mean he's my cousin once removed?)

I have a cousin who is in basic training right now for the Army and this is a huge letter that will go out to him.

 We miss you Christopher!

Then on to Round Two of the Thanksgiving feasts,

which was held at Mark's sister's house and was a lot smaller and quieter. I enjoy being around both sides of the family very much though and especially enjoyed eating two meals!!

 I had to be sure and wear a baggy shirt to allow for plenty of room for all the deliciousness.

 Brother in-Law, Blaine.

 Blaine's son and his daughter Oaklee and Wife, Tina.

 Mark's mother, Marva and Mark's sister, Roberta.

 Mark's sister, Monica and Roberta's husband, Dave.

 Mark's sister, Jenny

 Two of the cutest guys at the feast, Mark and Cooper.

Jordan's just as cute but he somehow managed to dodge the camera at the Fisher family party.

 Juan, Stacey, (Jenny's daughter) and Sierra

 J.T. and Kristi

We stayed and visited for about 2 1/2 hours with Mark's side of the family and then decided to head back over to my family function since they had scheduled the church building till 9:00 pm that night.

Round Three
meant enjoying a little bit of pie and other goodies still lingering on the tables.  We also were just in time to watch the talent show, put on mostly by the young kids.

Tiffany's fiance and my son Jordan

My cousin Roman and his wife Tiffany

Prenten and Alea, Jordan's Falcon.  After we returned from our Fisher family dinner Jordan treated the group with a showing of his falcon and shared stories of her and the things he's doing to train her and raise her.

Rachel and Alea

Jordan's been working out and thinks he has big muscles.  What do you think?