First Thanksgiving

I don't mean the celebration of October 1621. I mean "First Thanksgiving" much as Hobbits mean "first breakfast" and "second breakfast," since we'll be having a second Thanksgiving tomorrow.

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Today we joined my brother Jeff's family to feast and have fun.

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At left: Jeff and his son Burke carve one of two turkeys.

Before feasting, however, we began with the annual family football game in the field by Jeff and Dana's home.

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It was doggone chilly out there, but they had a great time for more than an hour.

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I played the important role of team photographer!

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Sarah took on the task of team babysitter. Here she is with her cousin Callie and Callie's nephew, Garrett.
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Here we have Jeff and Dana working together in the kitchen as they prepared and organized the meal.

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At left are their daughters Emma, Haley, and Hayden.
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One of the things I am most grateful for is family, and today's celebration was filled with family. I hope you'll enjoy these photos of our loved ones.

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This is Jeff and Dana's oldest child, Justin, and his wife Alisha. Their toddler, Aiden, was sleeping. Poor little guy is just getting over roseola and was exhausted.
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Next comes oldest daughter, Ashley, and her husband Matt. They have 2 little boys, Gage and Garrett, who appear in other photos in this post.
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Here we have Marcus and Jamison. By order of birth, Jamison is next, followed by Micah.

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Micah was unable to attend (he lives in the Valley), and neither were Jamison's wife Monica and toddler Trenton.
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Marcus plays football for his high school , and it's his school versus our high school for the state 3-A championship this Saturday in Flagstaff!

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Between Micah and Marcus comes Amber, and here is Amber with her boyfriend Ethan. Their baby is due on December 20th.

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Maybe a Christmas baby?





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Emma and Ashley share some sisterly time, bonding over a catalogue.

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Are you keeping track? So far we have Justin, Ashley, Jamison, Micah, Amber, and Marcus. Next comes Elsie, but somehow I missed getting a picture of my basketball-playing niece.

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Sorry, Elsie!

The rest of the family is made up of Burke, Emma, Haley, Hayden, Brinley, and Callie.

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At right, Brinley and Hayden entertain themselves and their nephew Gage by poking decorative holes in their paper plates with their plastic forks. I wonder if their gravy ran through the plates like a sieve!
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As dinner was being set out buffet-style, Callie was growing more impatient and hungrier by the minute!

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We are all so grateful to still have our sweet Callie Jayne with us for another Thanksgiving. She is very active and affectionate and making great progress.

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Today she showed us how to count to ten, and then she did a cheer for Marcus's team!

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Once the feast was spread before us, everyone lined up to pile their plates high.

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Sarah and I had to limit ourselves to some turkey breast meat, but I'm sure we ate double the 100 grams of protein allowed for one meal on our diet. I hope we don't pay for it on the scale in the morning...
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Of course, these three are the greatest blessing of my life. I thank God for the gift of my children every day.

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And, last but not least, here I am with Dana and Jeff.

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Thanks so much to you both for inviting us to join you on this special day of Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful visit.

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Your family is so precious to us! Love to all!