Thanksgiving with Milfred the Great

This year for Thanksgiving, we went down to SoCal to spend turkey day with Warren's family. We took off on Tuesday, stopping only once and hitting little traffic- a true success. We stayed for several days and it felt like a true vacation as we were able to do lots of lounging, eating and Wii playing. My game of choice was Mariokart. Warren battled his father on both bowling and golf.

The day of the great feast was wonderful as all the family was able to be there, including Warren's grandmother Isabelle. The only bump in the road was that the oven broke halfway through the turkey cooking. Like a true champ and Martha of the kitchen, Anne didn't even break a sweat and popped everything in the microwave to finish it off and serve on time.

Here are the tables all prepared for the great feast. Notice the traditional separation of adult and kid tables. It still excites me that I've finally made it to the adult table.

Meridith, Anne and Rachel getting things cooking in the kitchen.

Everyone else just playing around while they waited for the food.

Here are the hungry masses waiting patiently to eat.

As it was Sophie's first Thanksgiving (and because she's now 9 months and can eat meat), Warren and I decided Sophers should have her own little Thanksgiving feast. I threw some turkey, white potatoes and sweet potatoes into the blender to make her dinner. I'd like to say that it tasted good or at least looked pretty...but it didn't and Sophie was a little less than impressed.

Kara and I had apparently hit the same Old Navy baby sale and so Sophers and Maddie were twins on Thanksgiving day.

Notice the similar chin...

Buddies for life

Sharing secrets

The three granddaughters

Sophie loved being able to interact with her cousins and it was so neat to see how they loved and cared for her as well. There were several moments I saw Ben (the oldest grandchild who is currently 9) playing with Sophie or just smiling as he watched her play. I thought it was so tender that he took such an interest in her.

The best part of the week was discovering the friendship of Sophie and Millie, aka Milfred the Great. Warren's parents have a cockerspaniel that rules the house, and Sophers fell in love as soon as she saw that dog. She just giggled and laughed every time Millie came by and tried to lick or sniff her. We tried to take a picture that captured the fun they had together, but unfortunately Millie is not a fan of the camera. Here's the best we could do:

Thanks David and Anne for a wonderful week and making us feel so welcome in your home.