Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year with the newest member of our family joining his grandparents and a great-grandmother for one of our favorite holidays. We had nine of us at the table, and Landon right beside us. Alex was home from college to watch his brother wear the OSU shirt on Friday after their bet on the Michigan-OSU game last week. Jane spent the day with us and enjoyed her great-grandson as well as her two grandsons. Three of the Darrahs made it - Chuck, Linda and Erin - we missed Elizabeth who was in Chicago due to her work schedule. Becky and Roni were in the Poconos with Roni's mom, Sarah was in Atlanta with her boyfriend's family, and Ian was in Wisconsin with his mother's family. All were missed. Keith and I remembered how we had 56 for Thanksgiving dinner 11 years ago the day before our wedding. Wish we could have had all of you here again - you were missed. We had a delicious dinner - two turkeys this year - one traditional oven style and the other brined and smoked on the grill. The turkey burritos the next day were delicious with the smoked turkey.
Thanksgiving is a time to pause and remember what we are thankful for - and we have much to be thankful for in this home.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Becky and Roni visited this weekend for the wedding of Pam and Joe. Keith and I also attended the wedding and had a great time. It is so wonderful to have them close enough to come for a weekend. We look forward to many, many more to come. Oscar enjoyed his best friend, Buddy who lives next door - it is fun to watch them run around and play together.

Last weekend Bob and Kathy visited from Virginia. We had a great time - we took a train ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Railroad down to Peninsula where we had lunch at the Winking Lizard. It was a beautiful day. The next day we toured the new Euclid Avenue downtown Cleveland, ending up at the West Side Market. After working hard, Keith and Bob were able to fix our stereo system and as Becky said, we are now in the 21st century! We relaxed by playing Apples to Apples and Dominoes. What a fun weekend.