A Relaxing Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving Doug decided to change up our menu by replacing turkey with lasagna.  Meg, Cal, and Cam were happy with that decision.  Brett was the only turkey vote.  He wasn't too disappointed, however, as we still had corn, mashed potatoes, homemade bread and noodles.  Doug talked about making oyster dressing as well, but decided to hold off on that until Christmas.  No one was disappointed by that.  Mom and Dad joined us for dinner.  They brought pies, a butterscotch dessert, cookies and gherkins.  It was a wonderful meal which we all enjoyed.

While Mom and I were cleaning up, the guys watched the Bears game.  Meg helped us in the kitchen and Brett finished one of his video games.  Once everyone was ready we played several rounds of pool in which my Dad came out on top.  The big competition of the afternoon, however, was a family ping pong tournament.  Doug made a bracket and drew names for the tourney.  The first round saw Meg lose to Cam, Cal defeat Grandpa Cutes, Brett bowing out to me and Doug finishing off Grandma Jane quickly.  Cam gave Cal a run for his money in the second round, but lost in the end.  Doug easily destroyed me which left he and Cal playing for bragging rights.  It wasn't as close as Doug would have hoped and Cal earned the gold paddle of the day.

After pool and ping pong Doug, Meg, Brett and I decided to join the early Black Friday shopping crowd.  In years past, we would have stopped at Target on our way to University Park Mall, but they opened too early for us.  Plus, last year the crowds were incredible and it was challenging for us to locate what we needed.  Today, I woke up early and was pleased to find that I could order what we wanted at 5 a.m. from Target, so we really didn't need to stop anyway.  Therefore, the four of us only spent time shopping at the mall which worked out perfectly.  Meg found several items at Hollister, Forever 21 and Bath & Body Works.  She and I walked out of American Eagle as the lines were too long for me.  We actually got a better deal ordering the same item online which we were happy about.  Brett found a pair of Vans at Journeys and a book that he had wanted.  I ended the shopping trip with a stop at Yankee Candle stocking up on Christmas candles.  My parents met us back at our house when we returned to play cards.  Leftovers were eaten by most of us with a lot of talk about what we have been thankful for this year.  For me I was most thankful for the time that we have spent together as a family in 2018 including days like today.