Thanksgiving 2014 was largely undocumented online, save for one tweet and a couple of photos. The long and short of it is that then-three-year-old Connor puked in his car seat in the middle of our 2.5-hour car ride to Grammy’s house, then proceeded to deposit liquid poo in his diaper while we were at Thanksgiving, such that we worried that we’d be out of extra clothes (and possibly diapers) by the time the day was done. Then, as we drove home, the roads iced up and we skated across a couple of bridges after we got off the turnpike.
Thankfully, this year was much less stressful.
My brother-in-law had to sit this year out, due to feeling a bit under the weather, so it was just the core Schnuth clan heading out to Grammy’s house.
Before we left, I did note that the Thanksgiving cactus was preparing for its annual display (despite it being in a much-too-shallow container and being dusty as all get-out).
We left a little later than anticipated, so dinner had been ready and waiting for a while once we arrived. Mom took a picture of us before we tucked into her delicious meal.
The highlight, for me, is always Mom’s oyster stuffing. I’d forgotten how much I missed it until she started making Thanksgiving dinner again (after some 10 years being out-of-state).
For dessert, Connor had ice cream…
…and I had sweet potato pie.
Aaron had a small piece of both sweet potato and pecan pie.
Looking around Mom’s apartment, I realized how many family photos she has on display. The top two and the bottom center are from our Sears photo session for Connor’s first birthday; center is Mom and my late step-Gary at my wedding in 2003; bottom right is me and Mom at my wedding; and bottom left is from our ill-fated JCPenney portrait session for his second birthday, after Sears Portrait Studio went out of business.
Mom also has her Christmas tree up. Yep, that’s a Olan Mills picture of me in 1997, age 21, taken by Mom.
Connor watched some of Inside Out before he got bored, then ran in and out of Grammy’s bedroom all afternoon (when he wasn’t outside with Daddy) before we finally gave him his iPhone.
Once it became clear that Connor was fading fast, we said our goodbyes, packed up our leftovers, gassed up for the trip home, and headed back.
Overall, even though my brother-in-law couldn’t make it, and even considering the five hours we spent in the car, it was still an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Food, dessert, hugs, conversation, and did I mention dessert?
Many thanks (again) to my Mom for hosting Thanksgiving for the second year in a row. Happy leftovers to all!